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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2010 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/historyofpennsylOOshim 



A HISTORY OF 
PENNSYLVANIA 



BY 



L. S. SHIMMELL, PH.D. 

Teacher of United States History and Civil Government, High School^ 
Harrisburg, Pa. Author of "The Pennsylvania Citizen" 




R. L. MYERS & COMPANY 

1900 




48104 
SEP 17 1900 

s^C4^«D coir 

SEP 20 I90U 



80128 

Copyright, 1900 
By R. L. MYERS & CO, 



Set up and electrotyped 
Januai-Yi 1900 



Shimmell's Pa. Hist. 



Press of the Star-Independent. 
Harrisburg, Pa. 



PREFACE 

When historical societies for study and research in 
Pennsylvania history — local and general — are inulti- 
plying all over the State, no apology is needed for 
writing a book on the subject. Pennsylvania has a 
history of more than two centuries. It consists, like 
that of the other States which separated from Great 
Britiain to form the American Union, of a Colonial, a 
Revolutionary, and a Constitutional period. It has 
always been a part of another history: first of Eng- 
land, and then of the United States. This is true, 
not alone in a nominal, but in a real sense. United 
States history, whether its political, social, or indus- 
trial side, is of a composite nature. Every State 
helps to make it. The contribution of the thirteen 
original States is the greatest, because they have a 
Colonial and a Revolutionary history. In Pennsyl- 
vania these periods are especially interesting and im- 
portant, though they have been sadly neglected. 

But independent of the relation to United States 
history, State history has a claim on us for study and 
investigation. Pennsylvania ranks second among the 
States in wealth and population, and has the proud 
distinction of being the Keystone of the Union. If 
we would maintain this preeminence we must not be 
indifferent to our historj^ else neither we nor our de- 
scendants will attain to greater heights. Anything 
that is worthy of a future has a past that ought to be 

(iii) 



iv Preface 

studied. Then, too, a patriotic duty and a pardonable 
pride should move us to study the history of the 
State in which we live. It is the history of our fore- 
fathers, and we might as well neglect their graves as 
their deeds. 

There is also a pedagogical reason for the study of 
State history. American history, in all its phases, is 
receiving increased attention in colleges and univer- 
sities. The Association of Colleges and Preparatory 
Schools has advocated the adoption of better methods 
for teaching the subject. The Committee of Ten of 
the National Educational Association recommended its 
introduction in two places in the public school course 
— in the grammar and the high school. But to ac- 
complish all this with the greatest possible degree of 
success, there must be a deep and abiding interest 
aroused in American history. Such an interest can 
be created by the teaching of State history. Its per- 
sons, places and events are near in point of place, 
and have a great fascination for the mind. To stand 
by an historic grave, to set foot upon historic ground, 
and to receive history from the lips or the pen of one 
who helped to make it, are powerful adjuncts to 
teachers and books. 

As to its plan and contents, the book may speak 
for itself. However, the author desires to call atten- 
tion to the chapter of biographical sketches. With 
few exceptions the biography of every person named 
in the book can be found in that chapter. The chro- 
nological arrangement of the Governors' biographies 
and the alphabetical arrangement of all others make 
it easy to find them. Whenever the name of a person 
is met for the first time, his biography should be read. 



Preface v 

In writing "A Pennsylvania History," the author 
performed the part of a pioneer. In the plan and 
scope of this work, there was no book to imitate and 
none to modify; consequently much original research 
in official reports and documents was necessary, and 
constant visits to the best libraries in the State had 
to be made. This explanation is made to soften criti- 
cism and make it charitable. However, the author 
will be greatly obliged for the communication of any 
error, and for suggestions by which he can improve 
the book. 

L. S. S. 

HARRiSBURa, Pa., January 2, 1900. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PA0K 

I. The Indians of Pennsylvania 1 

1. Their Geographical Distribution 1 

2. Their Native Character 8 

3. Their Mode of Life 11 

II. The Settlement of Pennsylvania 14 

1. The Dutch 14 

2. The Swedes 17 

3. The English 21 

4. The Germans 39 

5. The Welsh 52 

6. The Scotch-Irish 53 

7. The French Huguenots 57 

III. The Growth of Population and the Adjustment 

OF Boundaries 59 

IV. The Form of Government 96 

V. The Administration of the Government 112 

1. The Colonial Period 112 

2. The Revolutionary Period 139 

3. The Constitutional Period 184 

VI. The Industrial History 250 

VII. Education in Pennsylvania 277 

VIII. Biographical Sketches 289 

1. The Governors of Pennsylvania 289 

2. Other Historical Persons 303 

Appendix 339 

Principal Officers of the United States Government 

from Pennsylvania, 1783 to 1900 339 

Index 341 

(vii) 



A History of Pennsylvania 



CHAPTER I 
THE INDIANS OF PENNSYLVANIA 

THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 

The Indians who occupied the territory of Pennsyl- 
vania at the time of its settlement belonged Two Great 
to two great families — the Algonquins and Famines 
the Iroquois. These occupied a part of North America 
which was triangular in form, the base extending 
from Cape Fear to the coast of Labrador, and the 
sides terminating in Lake Superior. The Iroquois, 
or Five Nations, were in the center of this triangle, 
in the lake region of New York, from Albany to 
Niagara Falls. Surrounding these dwelt the numer- 
ous nations and tribes of the Algonquins. It was in 
the language of the Algonquins that Raleigh's colo- 
nists were greeted at Roanoke, the Pilgrims at Ply- 
mouth, and the Quakers at Shackamaxon. 

Both these groups had traditions of a western ori- 
gin. Of the Algonquins, the Lenni-Leuape, ^^^.^ ^^. .^ 
or the Delawares, as they were called by 
the English, were the most important. Their Indian 
name signifies "the original people;" and nearly forty 
tribes acknowledged them as "great grandfathers." A 
legend was current among the Lenni-Lenape that in 



2 A History of Pennsylvania 

the dim past they and the Iroquois were one people, 
living beyond the Mississippi. After a time they mi- 
grated eastward and came to the Mississippi, where 
their passage across was disputed by a nation of fierce 
warriors on the eastern bank. The Lenni-Lenape tried 
to pass over in the face of the enemy on the other 
side. The Iroquois crossed higher up the stream, out- 
flanked the enemy, and so enabled their friends to get 
over. The fierce nation on the east bank were the 
Allegewi, who were driven back until they reached 
the mountains. Thence they made their way south- 
ward, never to return, leaving no trace except the 
names Allegheny and Yougliioglieny . The Lenni- 
Lenape crossed the mountains and reached the ocean ; 
while the Iroquois went up the Allegheny and thence 
into central New York. But this is only a legend. 
It bears some resemblance to the crossing of the Jor- 
dan by the Israelites, the story of which the Delawares 
had heard from the missionaries. Still, it accounts 
for the geographical distribution of the Algonquins 
and the Iroquois over the triangular part of North 
America known to have been occupied by them at 
the time of its exploration and settlement. 

When Penn arrived on the banks of the Delaware, 
The Delawares hc met thcrc thc Lcuni - Lenape tribe 
and subtribes ^^^ ^^g subtribcs. They had made the 
Delaware river the center of their possessions. 
They consisted of three tribes; viz., the Turtle, 
the Turkey, and the Wolf. The first two lived 
along the coast from the Hudson to the Potomac, 
between the sea and the Blue mountains. The third, 
whom the English" called Monseys, occupied the moun- 
tainous country between the Blue mountains and 



The Indians of Pennsylvania 3 

the sources of the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers ; 
and they kindled their great council fires at the Mini- 
sink Flats. These three tribes were divided into nu- 
merous sub tribes, named, according to Indian custom, 
after the rivers, creeks, or other noted places at which 
they lived. 

According to the tradition of Penn's treaty, he met 
another tribe — the Susquehannocks, or The 

Audastes— under the elm tree at Shacka> susquehannocks 
maxon. While the Delawares inhabited New Jersey 




Penn's Treaty at Shackamaxon. (See page 26.) 

and eastern Pennsylvania, the Susquehannocks occu- 
pied the country on the Susquehanna and Allegheny 
rivers. The Iroquois, having been supplied with fire- 
arms by the Dutch in New York, made war upon 
the upper Susquehannocks, and almost exterminated 
them. Driven down the Susquehanna valley, the few 



4 A History of Pennsylvania 

that survived were allowed to establish themselves 
along the Conestoga creek, and were afterwards known 
as Conestogas. It was this remnant of Susquehan- 
nocks with whom Penn treated, jointly with the Dela- 
wares, under the Shackamaxon Elm. 

The hunting grounds made vacant by the extermi- 
nation of the Susquehannocks were given 

The Nanticokes , ' . 

to various tribes by the Iroquois. The 
upper parts of the Susquehanna valley were allotted to 
the Nanticokes, a tribe from the eastern shore of Mary- 
land, claiming relationship to the Lenni-Lenape. Some 
of this tribe settled on the lower Susquehanna, not far 
from where John Harris afterwards established a ferry, 
at the present site of Harrisburg. The Nanticokes 
had the singular custom of disinterring the bones of 
their ancestors and carrying them to their new abode. 
They used to go from Wj'oming and Shenango to the 
eastern shore of Maryland to get the bones of their 
dead. 

After disposing of the Susquehannocks, the 
The Deiawares Ii'oquois made war on the Delawares. 
as Women Accordiug to the account of the latter, 
the Iroquois would have been exterminated had it 
not been for the peaceful disposition of the Dela- 
wares. Among the Indians, the women are the peace- 
makers ; the men, though never so weary of the 
contest, hold it cowardly to offer the olive branch. 
The Iroquois, fearing total extinction, proposed that 
the Delawares should assume the character of the 
woman among the Indians. "One nation," said they, 
"shall be the woman,^^ who was not to go to war, 
but keep the peace with all, and the men were to hear 
and obev the woman. The Delawares were thence- 



The Indians of Pennsylvania 5 

forth to dress in woman's long costume, to carry a 
calabash filled with oil and medicines, and to engage 
in the cultivation of Indian corn. 

The Iroquois, though agreeing in the details of this 
account, denied that the Delawares chose to play the 
woman. They claimed to have conquered the Dela- 
wares and forced them to adopt the defenseless state 
and name of woman. Whichever account is true, the 
fact remains that the Delaware nation was ever after- 
wards looked to for the preservation of the peace. 
It was entrusted with the great belt of peace and the 
chain of friendship, the middle of which was said to 
rest on the shoulders of the Delawares, the other 
Indian nations holding one end and the Europeans 
the other. 

The Iroquois, whether by strategy or by force it 
matters not, were now in a position to iroquois Rule 
assume the rights of protection and com- *^® Delawares 
mand over the Delawares, who, though permitted to 
stay in their old homes, were but 
little better than serfs. Their con- 
querors wandered over their lands 
at pleasure. The Senecas and Cayu- 
gas frequently came into the valleys 
of the Susquehanna, roaming about 
at will and using the waters and for- 
ests for fishing and hunting. Resi- 
dent deputy- governors were appointed 
by the grand council of the Iroquois. 
Shikellimy, the noted chief residing 
at Shamokin in the first half of the 
last century, was one of the vice- 
kings. Shikellimy. 




A History of Pennsylvania 



The Iroquois were always considered by the Dela- 
The wares as only one nation. The name of Five 

Five Nations ]i[aUons (and later Six Nations) was given 
them by their English ally, to magnify their impor- 
tance. Their own name — Aquonoscliioni — signifies one 
house, one family, which consisted originally of the 
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas. 
The alliance of the five tribes was proposed by the 




Mohawks ; hence they rank as the eldest brother in 
the family. 

The Tuscaroras, the sixth and last tribe in the 
The league, joined it about one hundred years 

Tuscaroras ^f^^^. ^^-g formation. In 1713, they were 
driven out of the upper country of the Neuse and Tar 
rivers, in North Carolina, by the whites. They so- 
journed in the Juniata valley for some ten years, and 
gave their name to a chain of mountains in that sec- 
tion of the State. In fact, some of them had a village 



The Indians of Pennsylvania 7 

in the vailey, which bore their name until after the 
purchase of 1758. On the supposition that they were 
originally of the same stock with the Five Nations, 
the Tuscaroras were adopted into the Iroquois Con- 
federacy, which was afterwards known as the Six 
Nations. 

There was still another nation of Iroquois in Penn- 
sylvania ; but they were not connected with 
the Five Nations of New York. They were 
the Fries, known also as the Cat Nation, by reason 
of their cats, a sort of small wolf, from whose skin 
robes ornamented with tails were made. These Indians 
occupied the western shore of Lake Erie, from Buffalo 
to Toledo. Captain John Smith fell in with a party 
of them at the head of the Chesapeake bay, whither 
they had come to make war on the Susquehannocks. 
They had come down by way of the Potomac, and 
filled seven canoes, whose construction gave evidence 
of experience on some large body of water. The Fries 
were overthrown by the Iroquois about the year 1655. 
After that time there is no mention of their existence. 

A tribe of Indians prominent in the history of 
Pennsylvania was the Shawanese. They ^^ „^ 

•^ 1 A . o The Shawanese 

were the Bedouins of North America, tor 
as wanderers they were without rivals among their 
race. They were Algon quins ; but their original home 
is not known to a certainty. They have been traced 
to the valley of the Cumberland river. Thence, their 
principal band moved to the Atlantic slope, in South 
Carolina. About the year 1698, some three or four 
score families, by leave of the Susquehannocks, planted 
themselves on the Conestoga. A few, at the request 
of the Monseys, were allowed to settle about the forks 



8 A History of Pennsylvania 

of the Delaware. Other straggling parties joined their 
brethren, until, finally, they were a numerous and 
powerful tribe in the province. Some historians assign 
an earlier date for th^ migration of the Shawanese, and 
claim that they, too, were present when the celebrated 
treaty was made at Shackamaxon. It is said that at 
a conference held with one of Penn's successors, this 
nation produced the treaty on parchment. 



THEIB NATIVE CHABACTEB 

In delineating the character of the Indians of Penn- 

The sylvan ia, happily for them, we can go back 

Good Side ^Q ^ ^jjjjg when it had not yet become greatly 

changed hj association with the Europeans. Hecke- 

welder, the great Moravian apostle to the Indians, gives 

us an example of how we should judge the red man: 

"Often I have listened to these descriptions of their hard 
sufferings, until I felt ashamed of being a white man." 

The Indian known to the missionaries of Pennsyl- 
vania was a religious being. An old Delaware once 
said that it had ever been the custom of his fathers 
to climb upon a high mountain to thank the Great 
Manitou (spirit) for all his benefits, and to ask for 
a continuance of the same, feeling sure that their 
prayers were heard by him. They were very hospi- 
table, and expected hospitality in return. Some trav- 
eling Delawares once put their horses in a meadow 
of fine grass without permission, and, when taken to 
account replied, "Can you make the grass grow? The 
Great Manitou makes it grow, both for your horses 
and for ours." Civility was a marked trait in their 



The Indians of Pennsylvania 9 

character. A "good morning, father," "grandfather," 
"uncle," and so on, down to a small grandchild, was 
the common form of address. Even the children 
saluted one another affectionately and respectfully. 
Quarrels were avoided. Fighting, they said, is only 
for dogs and other beasts. It was a rare thing to 
hear of murders among them in the days before the 
settlement of Pennsylvania. This we know from 
the testimony of reliable and well-informed Indians 
who helped to build the first houses in Philadelphia. 
The sense of wit was rare among them, yet there were 
occasional instances of it. The Delawares compared 
the European nations in America to a pair of scissors, 
which cut what comes between them. "The Europeans 
do not want to destroy themselves in their wars, but 
us poor Indians that are between them." In their 
aboriginal state, they were not vain ; but they pos- 
sessed a high-minded pride that was truly heroic at 
times. A white prisoner taken at Fort Mcintosh, now 
Beaver, and carried into Ohio, was condemned to die 
at the stake. Two English traders, acquainted with 
the Indian's personal pride, said to the chief : 
"Among all the chiefs there is none to equal you in 
greatness." "Do you really believe what you say?" 
asked the chief, in childish simplicity. "Indeed we 
do." Then the chief rushed through the crowd, cut the 
cords around the prisoner, and set him free. Before the 
astonishment was over, the prisoner was out of sight. 

The Indian, like every other savage race, had a 
dark side to his character. His name be- The 
came a synonj^m for revenge and cruelty. ^^""^ ^^^^ 
But are we in a position to "cast the first stone?" 
Our estimate of his character was prepared by the 



10 A History of Pennsylvania 

white man. "If lions had painters," illustrates the 
Indian's position in history. Few men outside of 
the missionaries told his side of a long, cruel story. 
Columbus, the first white man to know the red men, 
pays them the high compliment that "they love their 
neighbors as themselves." The original Indians were 
not beasts of prey; they became such by exasperation. 

Another instance of the deterioration of Indian 
character is his drunkenness. When Henry Hudson 
and his sailors first offered the cup to the Mohicans 
on Manhattan, it was passed around the circle as if 
they had been taught the lesson — "touch not, taste 
not, handle not." But one was tempted, and he be- 
came the Adam of a long line of Indian drunkards. 
The thoughtful Indians of a century or two ago well 
knew whom to blame for their drunkenness. A mis- 
sionary once asked an Indian at Pittsburg who he 
was. He answered: "My name is Black Fish; when 
at home with my people, I am a clever fellow, but 
when here I am a hog." William Penn, in his letter 
to the Free Society of Traders, in London, saj^s: "Since 
the Europeans came into these parts, the Indians are 
grown great lovers of strong liquors, rum especially, 
and for it exchange the richest of their skins and 
furs." Surprise was often expressed by these simple 
children of the forest that a people who believe in a 
religion of the Great Spirit, who claim to have his 
own word in their houses, could think of making a 
liquor to bewitch and to destroy one another. When 
the English traders, soon after Penn's death, had gone 
among them in the valleys of the Juniata and the Sus- 
quehanna, they had constant complaints to make about 
the sale of rum to their people. 



The Indimis of Pennsylvania 11 

THEIR MODE OF LIFE 

The Indians had no code of laws, except a few 
unwritten rules of justice and courtesy, 

Few La>vs 

which were enforced by the chiefs and their 
counsellors. The wampum, or Indian money, neces- 
sary to carry an order of the chief into effect, was 
freely given. Important transactions were ratified 
by strings and belts of wampum. Black wampum 
signified war ; white, peace, friendship, good- will. 
The pipe of peace, which was made of black or red 
stone, had to be whitened before it was used for 
such a purpose. To keep treaties fresh in the memory, 
the chiefs met occasionally at some chosen spot in 
the forest and rehearsed them. Thus, between the 
years 1770 and 1780, the Delawares could relate very 
minutely what had passed between William Penn and 
their forefathers. On such occasions, the Indians sat 
around a chest, took out one string or belt after 
another, handed it to every person present, and re- 
peated the words spoken at its delivery. 

The Indians had no schools. The parents taught 
the children. The first lessons were about 

No Schools 

the Great Spirit and about the duties to 
parents and elders. Reading and writing were un- 
known arts to them. The Iroquois and Delawares 
understood a little counting. The position of the sun 
served to show the time of day; and the stages of 
the corn, the season of the year. The marriage tie 
was weak, and polygamy was permitted. The children 
followed the mother in case of separation. The name, 
as a rule, was given by the father, who generally 
selected that of some animal. Other names were fre- 



12 



A History of Pennsylvania 



quently added. Thus, one who wore torn or patched 
shoes was called Bad Shoes; one who had large eyes, 
Great Eye. To the white men the Indians gave sug- 
gestive names of their own. When the Delawares had 
learned the meaning of Penn's name, they at once 
called him Miquon, feather or quill. The Iroquois 
called him Onas, for the same reason. Ingenious com- 
pounds were invented. Thus, the name for Philadel- 
phia was Queqiienaliti , "the grove of the long pine 
trees." 

Hunting was considered the most honorable occu- 
pation. The Delawares early trained their 
boys to run so fast as to overtake a deer, 
and to shoot small fishes with their bows and arrows. 



Occupations 




Neshaminy Creek, Bucks county. 



The oyster, the land -tortoise and the locust were also 
in demand for food. Vegetables of various kinds were 
raised; but maize, aside from meat and fish, was the 



The Indians of Pennsylvania 13 

chief food. They planted it after the hazelnut was in 
bloom, as a precaution against frost. The shoulder- 
blade of a deer or a tortoise shell was used to hoe — 
a work that fell to the women. 

Dancing and singing were the Indian's amusement, 
though he indulged in them for other pur- 

Amusements . 

poses. This grotesque performance ended 
in a disagreeable yell, which resembled the mewing 
of the cat -bird at the close of its pretty song. The 
war dance was to terrify, not to please. It was per- 
formed around a painted post, and the dancers went 
through all the motions and actions of the battle. 
After a victory, a dance of thanksgiving was in order. 
It was religious in its nature. 

BOOKS FOR READING AND CONSULTATION 

Stone's Life and Times of Bed-Jacket, Ch. i ; Heckewelder's 
Indian Nations; Parkman's Conspiracy of Poniiac, Ch.i; School- 
craft's Notes on the Iroquois, Chs. iii and iv ; Doddridge's Notes, 
passim; Loskiel's Indian Mission, Part I. 



CHAPTER 11 
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 

THE DUTCH .^ 

Penn^s settlers were not the first Europeans to dwell 
on the banks of the Delaware. Henry 
Hudson, the English explorer, after^ two 
failures under his native flag to discover a short' pas- 
sage to Asia, got the consent of Holland to try the 
same experiment under the Dutch flag. In 1609, 
this daring adventurer, with some Netherlanders -and 
Englishmen, set sail in the Half Moon for China by 
way of the northeast. Fogs and ice, and the recollec- 
tion of what Frobisher, Drake, Raleigh and other Eng- 
lishmen had done in America, made him change^ his 
course. After stopping at various points along'^the 
Atlantic coast, he touched the mouth of "a great bay," 
which was afterwards named Delaware bay, in honor 
of Lord Delaware, who entered it the next year. 
Hudson spent one day on its waters, and then sailed 
north, discovering the river which bears his name. 
On this brief visit to Delaware bay the Dutch based 
their claim to the country of the Zuydt (south) bay 
and river. After Hudson had reported his discoveries 
to Holland, five vessels were sent from Amsterdam 
to America in 1614. Four of them made explorations 
around Manhattan and to the eastward. The other, 
under command of Cornelis Jacobson Mey, went south 

(14) 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 15 

and reached Delaware bay, where the Captain left 
his name on the southern cape of New Jersey. 

The vessels all returned to Holland except the Un- 
rest, Captain Cornelis Hendrickson, which captain 
had been built on the Hudson to take the Hendrickson 
place of one that had been burned. The Unrest was 
accordingly the first vessel constructed in this country 
by Europeans. With it Captain Hendrickson, in 1616, 
explored the Delaware more minutely, ascending it as 
far north as the mouth of the Schuylkill, which river 
he discovered. By a singular coincidence, he met three 
Netherlanders near the site of Philadelphia ; they had 
come there from Fort Nassau (Albany) by way of the 
Mohawk and the Delaware. On his arrival home he 
gave a glowing account of the land of the Delaware, 
describing it as a vast forest, abounding in bucks and 
does, turkeys and partridges ; the climate temperate, 
and the trees mantled by the vine. 

The application of the Puritans to settle in America 
under the protection of Holland, and the First settlement 
intimation that the English were disposed °" *^® Delaware 
to colonize the lands claimed by the Dutch, led, finally, 
to the chartering of the Dutch West India Company, 
1621. This corporation at once turned its attention 
to its two objects — traffic and colonization. Its posses- 
sions extended from the Delaware to the Hudson, and 
were named "The New Netherlands." In the spring of 
1623, Captain Mey sailed for the Delaware bay with 
a number of colonists. Passing the cape bearing his 
name, he ascended the river for a distance of fifty miles, 
and on the eastern shore erected Fort Nassau, near 
the present site of Gloucester. This was the first 
European settlement on the banks of the Delaware. 



16 A History of Pennsylvania 

On the west side of the river, an association of 
patroons resident in Amsterdam, in 1630 

Swaanendael 

bought an estate from the Indians. A settle- 
ment of some thirty people, the first in Delaware, and 
older than any in Pennsylvania, was made the next 
year on Lewes creek. It was named Swaanendael, but 
its settlers, on account of a petty quarrel between the 
commander of the fort and the Indians about a piece 
of tin, were all murdered by the savages. Not even 
the faithful watchdog escaped. However, the ruins 
of Swaanendael and the bones of its Dutch inhabitants 
gave Delaware a separate existence. The English rec- 
ognized occupancy as a title to the wilderness. Lord 
Baltimore's grant, which he received the year follow- 
ing the destruction of Swaanendael, extended over 
Delaware. Had it not been occupied before by the 
Dutch, the State would likely have been included in 
Maryland. 

There is some evidence, too, of a very early Dutch 
A Dutch settlement on the soil of Pennsylvania. 

Settlement in Tradition has it that a company of miners 
Pennsylvania ^^^^ Hollaud made their way from Esopus 
(now Kingston), on the Hudson, to the Delaware below 
Milford, and settled within the present limits of Mon- 
roe and Pike counties, principally on the site of 
Shawnee. There are accounts of "mine -holes" near 
the Blue mountains, and of a "mine-road" a hundred 
miles long. On this road, it is said, the Hollanders 
of the Minisink Flats took their wheat and cider 
to Esopus on the Hudson as late as 1730, without 
knowing anything about Philadelphia. Large orchards 
of "apple trees far beyond the size of any near Phila- 
delphia" were reported to have been seen by some 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 



17 



public surveyors about fifty years after the settlement 
of the state. 

THE SWEDES 



Before the Dutch could recover the soil of Delaware 
from the Indians, a European competitor Gustavus 

appeared. As early as 1624, application Adoiphus and 
was made to Gustavus Adoiphus, King of o^«"«ti«-" 
Sweden, by a dissatisfied member of the Dutch West 
India Company, for a Swedish West 
India Company. The charter was 
granted in 1626. It was a paper 
that breathed much love for hu- 
manity. All oppressed Christendom 
was to have an asylum in the New 
World. The colony was to be "the 
j«wel of the kingdom." But alas ! 
the battle of Lutzen put an end to all 
of this good King's dreams. Fortu- 
nately, Oxenstiern, his Premier, be- 
came the executor of the plans of the dead master. 
Through this wise and good statesman the first per- 
manent settlement was made on the Delaware. 

Peter Minuit, a German of Wesel, the first gov- 
ernor of New Netherlands, was obliged to The Dutch 
resign in 1633, on account of factional Purchase 
strife. He then offered his services to the Swedes, and 
took out the first colony. He arrived in 1638, and 
landed his little company of Swedes and Finns near 
Lewes, Delaware. A fort was erected near the mouth 
of the creek, and both fort and creek were named 
Christina, in honor of the little girl who had succeeded 




Gustavus Adoiphus. 



18 A History of Pennsylvania 

her father to the throne. All the lauds from Cape 
Henlopen to the Falls of Trenton were purchased 
from the Indians, and stakes and marks put up. 
The Dutch protested, but without effect. The en- 
thusiastic Scandinavians extended their plantations 
and their trade with the Indians, and exported thou- 
sands of skins the first year. 

Seeing their protests defied, the Dutch stationed 
The Dutch some twenty men at Fort Nassau, which 
Settlers rn had bccu abaudoucd with the destruction 
Pennsylvania ^^ Swaaueudael. So whcu Printz, the 
third governor of New Sweden, arrived, in 1643, he 
selected the island of Tinicum, now Tinicum town- 
ship, Delaware county, a few miles below Phila- 
delphia, for a place of residence and defense, and 
called it New Gottenberg. A strong fort was built 
as a protection against attacks from Fort Nassau. 

The governor also erected a handsome mansion 
with bricks from Sweden. This, it is said, stood for 
more than one hundred and fifty years, when 
its history was ended by a fire. New Gottenberg 
was the first European settlement in Pennsylvania 
of which there is positive knowledge. The few English 
families, Londoners, who had found the soil of Con- 
necticut too stubborn for their easy habits, and had 
settled on the Schuylkill, either left or submitted to 
Swedish jurisdiction. 

It now became evident to the Dutch on the 
The Swedes Hudsou that the Swedes on the Delaware 
Surrender wcrs bccomlng daugcrous rivals. Fort 
Nassau, "being too far up and out of the way," was 
broken up. and Fort Casimir erected in 1651, near 
the present town of New Castle, and about five 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 



19 




Swedish houses in Philadelphia. 



miles from Fort Christina. It was agreed to be neigh- 
borly, but that was impossible. The Swedes soon 
took the offensive, gained entrance to Fort Casimir 
under pretense of friendship, and overpowered the 
garrison. This was a 
fatal step. Stuyvesant, 
the governor of New 
Netherlands, was ordered 
to "avenge the wrong 
and to drive the Swedes 
from the Delaware or 
compel their submis - 
sion." In 1665, he com- 
pelled both Fort Casimir 
and Fort Christina 
to surrender to him. 
Then ended the Swedish power on the Delaware. The 
whole territory, from Cape Henlopen to the Falls of 
Trenton, passed under the rule of the Dutch, which 
remained undisputed, except by Lord Baltimore, until 
1664, when all of New Netherlands was taken by the 
Duke of York, to whom the King of England had 
granted it. 

The Dutch were grouped around New Castle and 
Leweston ; while the Swedes and Finns Location 
dwelt at Christina creek, at Upland, and of Dutch and 
about the present site of Philadelphia. swedes 

With the exception of the brief reversion to the 
Dutch — 1673 to 1674 — these settlements remained in 
possession of the Duke of York until he granted them 
to William Penn, when those now in Delaware be- 
came known as "the three lower counties," or "the 
territories of Pennsylvania." 



20 A History of Pennsylvania 

The Swedes left some interesting footprints in the 
Swedish history of the State. Though they were 
Footprints blended with other nationalities, yet the 
modicum of their blood now in the veins of Pennsyl- 
vanians is worth examining. It is true that among 
the first arrivals there were many bandits. Criminals 
were sent over in such numbers that during Printz's 
administration the abuse was forbidden, "lest Almighty 
God should let his vengeance fall on the ships and 
goods and the virtuous people that were on board." 
However, the Swedes who settled in Pennsylvania, are 
not remembered by the unworthy ones ; these left no 
impress on its history. The virtuous and industrious 
Swedes are proudly remembered in Bucks, Montgomery, 
Delaware and Philadelphia counties, as the first white 




The Church at Wicaco. 

men to woo the virgin soil. They were a religious 
people. Their first church was built on Tinicum island, 
and was dedicated in 1646. There, too, the first 
marriage between Europeans in Pennsylvania is sup- 
posed to have been solemnized — that of Governor 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 21 

Printz's daughter, in 1644. In Philadelphia, the Gloria 
Dei, or Swedes^ Church, stands as a monument to the 
historic church at Wicaco, which was built for the 
use of the inhabitants of Passyunk and beyond, about 
the year 1669, not far from the site of the navy yard. 
It had loopholes, that it might be used as a place of 
safety against the Indians or other enemies. 

"As once, for fear of Indian beating. 
Our grandsires bore their guns to meeting, 
Each man equipped, on Sunday morn, 
With psalm-book, shot and powder horn." 

Through the Swedes' court at Upland, Delaware 
county has the dictinction of furnishing the first 
case of conjugal disagreement in Pennsylvania (1661), 
of having first whipped and branded a criminal 
(1669), of having laid out the first highway (1677), 
of having made the first appointment of a guardian, 
and the first commitment of a lunatic (1678), and 
of having empaneled the first jury (1678) . 

THE ENGLISH. 

After the lands on the Delaware had finally passed 
into the hands of the English, 1674, Governor Andros, 
the Duke of York's deputy in America, made 
numerous grants of lands in the territory soon to 
become "Penn's Woods." The first permanent English 
settlement in Pennsylvania was made at this period. 
Some Quakers having come from England with fourteen 
of their brethren who colonized West Jersey, settled near 
the Lower Falls, on land afterwards in Bucks county. 
They had become so well established by the time Penn 



22 A History of Pennsylvania 

founded his colony that he thought of locating his 
capital at Pennsbury or Bristol. Some time before 
obtaining his charter and sailing for America, he be- 
came assignee of one of the Quaker proprietors of 
West Jersey and part owner of East Jersey. Through 
the correspondence which he had on this account, he 




William Peuu 

learned that "the Indian countrj^ on the west side 
of the Delaware is most beautiful to look upon, that 
it only wanteth a wise people to render it, like the 
ancient Canaan, 'the glory of the earth.' " 

Three things moved Penn to plant a colony in the New 
World : First, he would get payment for 

Penn's Motives 

the debt of 16,000 pounds due his father 
as an officer of the British navy ; secondly, he would 
find a place for his brethren, the Quakers, or Friends, 
where they would not be openly insulted in the streets, 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 23 

dragged from their meeting-houses to loathsome jails, 
and robbed of the last bed or cow to pay the fines 
for not attending the established church ; and thirdly, 
he would satisfy the desire which the glowing accounts 
of the brethren in West Jersey had created in him. 
The second of these motives was by far the strongest. 
Penn himself had been tried for preaching to " an un- 
lawful, seditious and riotous assembly."^ The first 
verdict was, "Guilty of speaking in Grace-church 
street." This verdict was brought in repeatedly, in 
spite of threats from the judge that he would starve 
the jury if they did not say "Guilty," or "Not Guilty." 
Finally the verdict of "Not Guilty" was rendered, 
whereupon the judge fined each of the jurors forty 
marks and imprisonment till paid, because they had 
followed their "own judgment" rather than the "good 
advice" given them by him. Penn also was fined for 
having his hat on in the presence of the court. In 
this trial the following words were exchanged : 

Lord- May or — ^to^ his mouth; gaoler, bring fetters and 
stake him to the ground. 

William Penn — 'Do your pleasure; I matter not your fetters. 

The Judge — Till now I never understood the reason of the 
policy and prudence of the Spaniards in suffering the Inquisition 
among them ; and certainly it will never be well with us till 
something like the Spanish Inquisition be in England. 

From this trial it is seen that William Penn and 
his people enjoyed neither religious nor Reugious 
civil liberty in England. In Europe, church conditions in 

. , X Europe 

and state, as a rule, are not separate, in 
most countries, a certain church— called the estab- 
lished church, or state church— is a part of the 
government. In the seventeenth century, when all 



24 A History of Pennsylvania 

but one of the thirteen colonies were planted, there 
was a great democratic uprising in England, Holland, 
Germany and France ; the common people, espe- 
cially the owners of small freeholds, began to claim 
a share in the government under which they lived. 
This desire for greater liberty showed itself most 
strongly in religious matters ; for the established 
churches in those days interfered very much with 
freedom of conscience. As a result, numerous sects 
— religious bodies outside of the state church — sprang 
up among the common people. As these sects had 
everything to gain and nothing to lose, they grew 
rapidly, and became very much hated by the govern- 
ment. When it was found that they could not be 
suppressed, to get rid of them they were allowed to 
settle in America. Of these, the one founded by 
George Fox — the Quakers, or Friends — was a very 
active one, and, on coming here, they opened wide 
the gates of Pennsylvania for the sects of Europe. 
As a universal father, Penn opened his arms to all 
mankind, without distinction of sect or party. Here 
are his own words concerning his purposes: 

"And, because I have been somewhat exercised, at times, 
about the nature and end of government, it is reasonable to 
expect, that I should endeavor to establish a just and righteous 
one, that others may take example by it ; — truly, this my heart 
desires. * * * j ^q^ therefore, desire the Lord's wisdom to 
guide me, and those that may be concerned with me, that we do 
the thing that is truly wise and just." 

With this exalted object in view, Penn, in 1680, 
Application petitioned King Charles H for a grant of 
for a Charter jj^j-^^^j j^j Auicrica. The klug himself was 
willing at once, because he could thus pay the debt 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 



25 




lUM CLAVUM TENEA 



Penn's Book-plate. 



he owed Penn. Some of his counsellors objected, 
saying, that it would be ridiculous to suppose that 
the interests of the British nation were to be pro- 
moted by sending a colony of peo- 
ple that would not fight, that would 
have nothing to do with gin and 
gunpowder in dealing with the 
Indians. Had it not been for one 
member of the Privy Council, Penn- 
sylvania might not exist today. 
The nature of his speech, which 
won the day for Penn, is seen in 
the closing words : 

" Surely, then, my lords, you will 
agree with me that it is high time for 
William Penn and his Quakers to he 
ofiE. Yes, my lords, I repeat it; they 
must he off, or this excellent government of kings, priests 
and nobles is gone forever ; and chaos and wild uproar is 
come again." 

On the fourth day of March, 1681, William Penn 
was made, by charter, proprietor and gov- ^^^^ ^j 
ernor of the province of Pennsylvania. His Province and 
choice of a name was Few Wales ; but the 
king insisted on Pennsylvania. Penn next proposed 
Sylvania, on the ground that the prefix Penn would 
appear like vanity on his part, and not as a mark of 
respect for his father; but no amendment was ac- 
cepted. The extent of the province was three degrees 
of latitude by five degrees of longitude ; the eastern 
boundary being the Delaware river, the northern, 
" the beginning of the three and fortieth degree of 
northern latitude, and on the south a circle drawn at 



26 A History of Pennsylvania 

twelve miles distance from New Cattle, northward and 
westward into the beginning of the fortieth degree of 
northern latitude, and then by a straight line west- 
ward to the limits of longitude above mentioned." 
The " three lower counties on the Delaware" — Kent, 
Sussex and the New Castle district — were not included 
in the charter. Penn, seeing the importance of con- 
trolling this vestibule to his province, secured a grant 
for it from the Duke of York the following year. 
Penn's charter hangs in a frame in the State Library at 
Harrisburg. It consists of three pieces of parchment. 
The writing is all underscored in red ink, and a well- 
executed likeness of his majesty, the king, is at the 
top of the first page. 

After publishing an address to the Quakers and to 
others, concerning his new state, Penn drew 

First Settlers ' *= 

up a form of government and a code of 
laws, and sent his cousin, William Markham, to take 
possession of the country and act as deputy governor. 
Markham arrived in the Delaware about July 1, 1681. 
Later in the year, three ships sailed for Pennsylvania, 
two from London and one from Bristol. Several ses- 
sions of court were held at Upland under Markham 's 
rule. The first entry was dated September 13, 1681. 
It ^V'as a case of assault and battery, notwithstanding 
that it occurred in the peaceful land of Penn. The 
deputy governor was joined by three commissioners 
soon after his arrival, to confer with the Indians 
about the sale of land and to make a league of peace 
with them. The first purchase was made July 15, 
1682. The tract extended along the Delaware from 
the mouth of the Neshaminy to the Blue mountains. 
Markham paid for it as follows : 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 27 

" 350 ffathoms of Wampum, 20 white Blankits, 20 ffathoms 
of Strawed waters, 60 ffathoms of Duffields, 20 Kettles, 4 whereof 
large, 20 gunns, 20 Coates, 40 Shirts, 40 payre of Stockings, 40 
Howes, 40 Axes, 2 Barrels of Powder, 2 00 Barres of Lead, 200 
Knives, 200 small Glasses, 12 Payre of Shoes, 40 Copper Boxes, 
40 Tobacco Tonngs, 2 small Barrels of Pipes, 40 payre of Scissors, 
40 Combs, 24 pounds Eed Lead, 100 Aules, 2 handfulls of ffish- 
hooks, 2 handfulls of Needles, 40 pounds of Shott, 10 Bundles of 
Beads, 10 small Saws, 12 Drawing Knives, 4 anchers of Tobacco, 
2 anchers of Rumme, 2 anchers of Syder, 2 anchers of Beere and 
300 Gilders." 

Markham also held some conferences with the 
Indians, simply to cultivate peace and friendship. 
On these occasions he would read to them a letter 
from Penn, in which he said : 

"I have great love and regard for you, and desire to win and 
gain youi^ love and friendship by a kind, just and peaceable life ; 
and the people I send are of the same mind, and shall in all 
things behave themselves accordingly." 

Having made every arrangement for his own de- 
parture, Penn took an affectionate leave 

. T T . 1 Penn's Arrival 

of his Wife and children and went on 
board the good ship Welcome, September 1, 1682. The 
number of passengers was about one hundred, mostly 
Quakers who had been his neighbors in Sussex, 
England. Some thirty died of small-pox, and were 
buried in the sea. Otherwise the voyage was un- 
eventful. Penn greatly endeared himself to the com- 
pany by his kind and untiring ministrations to the 
sick and dying. After six weeks, land was sighted on 
the coast of New Jersey, about Egg Harbor. In 
passing up the Delaware, the Dutch and Swedes, now 
his subjects, received him with great joy. He landed 
at New Castle, October 27. Here, the next day, he 



28 A History of Pennsylvania 

called the people together in the Dutch court house 
and took legal possession of the country, assuring 
the inhabitants of liberty of conscience and of civil 
freedom. 

Two days later Penn went to Upland to call the 
First General first general assembly. He changed the 
Assembly name of Upland to Chester, in honor of 

his friend Pearson, a companion on the Welcome, who 
had lived in Chester, England. Upland was the home 
of most of the immigrants from England who had 
preceded the Welcome, and their hospitality knew no 
bounds except their scanty means. 

From Chester, Penn, with a few others, traveled 
up the Delaware in an open boat, in the 
early days of November, when the banks of 
the river had been freshly painted with colors mixed 
by Autumn's hands. His mission was to meet the 
Indians and publicly ratify the Treaty of Eternal 
Friendship, which Markham and his associates had 
previously made. When he arrived at Shackamaxon, 
the Indians had already filled the woods as far as 
the eye could see. After the chiefs had arranged 
themselves in the form of a half -moon, Penn, with no 
mark of power save a blue sash around his waist, 
addressed them in the name of the Great Spirit, who 
made and rules all mankind: 

"We meet on the broad pathway of good faith and good will; 
no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be open- 
ness and love. I will not call you children, for parents ehide 
their children too severely ; nor brothers only, for brothers differ. 
The friendship between me and you I will not compare to a chain ; 
for that the rains might rust or the falling tree might break. We 
are the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two 
parts; we are all one flesh and blood." 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 29 

After receiving some presents from Penn, the Indians 
gave the belt of wampum and solemnly pledged them- 
selves to live in love with him and his children as 
long as the sun and moon should endure. "This," says 
Voltaire, "was the only treaty between these people 
and the Christians that was made without an oath, 
and that was never broken." Penn had many other 
conferences of this kind with the Indians, and he was 
kindly remembered by them for years. At a meeting 
between Governor Keith and the Five Nations, held 
at Conestoga in 1721, the spokesman of the Indians 
said: "We shall never forget the counsel that William 
Penn gave us; though we cannot write, as the English, 
yet we can keep in the memory what was said in- 
our councils." So faithful were they to him that 
not a drop of Quaker blood was shed by them 
while he lived. 

The Elm Tree under which the treaty was made 
afterwards became celebrated. The British 

^ , p. . , , , The Treaty Elm 

General ISimcoe, who was once quartered 
near it in the Revolutionary War, so respected it that 
when his soldiers were cutting down trees for fire- 
wood, he placed a guard under it. A storm blew it 
down in 1810, and it was found to have been two 
hundred and eighty -three years old. Its site, marked 
by a monument erected in 1827, is now surrounded by 
a beautiful park. The statue of William Penn on the 
tower of City Hall, Philadelphia, faces in the direction 
of the Elm in Kensington, and silently admonishes the 
people of Pennsylvania to be true to the principles of 
its founder. 

After the treaty was made, Penn proceeded up the 
Delaware to see the mansion which Markham was 



30 A History of Pennsylvania 

building for him at Pennsbury, Bucks county. It was 
erected at great expense, and remained the marvel of 
the neighborhood for many years, but Penn and his 
family lived in it only a short time, from 1700 to 
1701. It was afterwards neglected, and just before 
the Revolution its crumbling walls were removed and 
the ground on which it stood passed out of the Penn 
family. 

When the time for the first meeting of the General 
The Province Asscmbly had arrived, Penn returned to 
Formed Chcstcr. During a three days' session, the 

machinery of government was set up and put into 
operation ; the Dutch, Swedes, and foreigners of all 
description, were naturalized ; and the Province of 
Pennsylvania was a complete fact. The "holy experi- 
ment," as Penn called his new state, had been begun. 
Having fairly purchased some land from the natives, 
he made a survey of it, and divided it into three 
counties — Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester. The first 
was named after the city then building ; the second, 
after Buckinghamshire, the land of Penn's ances- 
tors ; and the third after his friend Pearson's native 
city. 

Bucks and Chester had definite boundaries ; but 
The Three Philadelphia embraced the whole province 

Original Counties ^etwecu them,— uorth, northwest, and 
northeast, — to an indefinite extent. The northern 
boundary of Bucks extended to the Kittatinny (Blue) 
mountains, "or as far as the land might be purchased 
from the Indians." Chester included the territory 
southwest of the Schuylkill to the extreme limits of 
the province. By the formation of Berks, in 1752, 
the northern boundary of Philadelphia was limited ; 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 31 

and when, in 1784, Montgomery was erected, the 
largest county became the smallest. 

"The great town" in Pennsylvania was to be near 
the junction of the Delaware and the Location of 
Schuylkill. The navigability of both rivers, Philadelphia 
especially of the Delaware, the abundance of brick- 
earth and building -stone, the beauty of the location, — 
these and other circumstances put Philadelphia near 
the Indian village of Quequenaku, "the grove of the 
long pine trees." The ground was in the possession of 
a few Swedes, who were readily induced to exchange 
it for land elsewhere. 

The plan of Philadelphia was so well conceived that 
there is no other city in the United States its pian 

in which a stranger can so easily find his and Name 
way. With few exceptions, the streets cross each 
other at right angles. Those originally running east 
and west — nine in number — were all named after the 
various kinds of trees in the forest around, as, Vine, 
Spruce, Pine, Sassafras, Willow, Chestnut, Walnut, 
etc.; those running north and south — twenty -three 
altogether — were numbered from the Delaware, Front 
street to Broad street, and from the Schuylkill, Front 
street to Broad street. In the center of the city was 
to be a square of ten acres, each corner of which was 
to be reserved for public offices. In each quarter of 
the city, there was to be another square of eight 
acres, to be used by the people like the Moorfields in 
London. These public squares, though not located as 
planned, are all in Philadelphia today, and con- 
stitute pleasant oases in the center of a vast extent 
of brick and stone. The city was named after a 
town in Lydia, Asia Minor, the seat of one of the 




32 A History of Pennsylvania 

seven early Christian churches. Philadelphia signifies 

"brotherly love." 

Few of the settlers of Philadelphia had the time or 

the means to build houses before the win- 
its Houses 

ter of 1682-83 set in ; hence many of them 
lived like conies, in caves dug under the high bluff 
on the river -front between Vine and Walnut streets. 
The next year nearly one hundred houses were built, 

sheltering more than five hun- 
dred inhabitants ; and two 
years afterwards six hundred 
houses had displaced the trees 
and thickets of the forest. 
The Swedes and Indians were 
very kind to the infant colony, 
^ -- - l\^Q former sharing theii' shel- 

An Old House, 1685. ^ 

ter and the latter their game. 
Some well-to-do settlers had brought with them houses 
in frame, tools, implements, and furniture, as well as 
food and raiment to last them for some time after 
their arrival. The poorer classes had to put up mere 
huts, made from timber freshly cut in the forest. 
Penn furnished a general plan for their construction,— 
30 X 18 feet, partitioned in the middle, covered and 
lined with clapboards and the intervening space filled 
with earth, the ground floor of clay and the upper of 
wood, and the roof of clapboard also. Philadelphia in 
a few years gained more in population than New York 
did in half a century. Penn was so happy over his 
success that he congratulated himself in these words : 

"I must without vanity, say, that I have led the greatest col- 
ony into America that ever any man did upon private credit, 
and the most prosperous beginnings that ever were made any- 
where are to be found among us." 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 33 

Not all of Penn's brethren settled in Philadelphia. 
Many, as they landed, distributed themselves through 
the country. They were thinly scattered from the 
Falls of Trenton to Chester. The leading settlements 
were at Byberry, a noted suburb of Philadelphia in 
colonial times ; at Bristol, the second chartered borough 
in Pennsylvania ; at Pennsbury, the site of Penn's 
country residence ; at Chester, the first seat of gov- 
ernment ; at Birmingham, the township in which the 
battle of Brandy wine was fought ; at Kennett, which, 
as Letitia's Manor, had originally been survej^ed for 
Penn's daughter Letitia ; and at Marcus Hook, where 
the first Friends' meeting was established. Fortu- 
nately for those who arrived in the first ships, the 
winter was mild and open, and they all cleared enough 
land to plant a crop of Indian corn in the spring. 
The following extract from a letter of Richard Town- 
send, who went out with William Penn, shows how 
the rural settlers fared: 

"After our arrival we found the country a wilderness. The in- 
habitants were Indians and Swedes, who received us in a friendly 
manner and brought us provisions at very reasonable rates. After 
some time, I set up a mill on Chester creek, which I brought 
ready framed from London, which served for grinding of corn and 
sawing of boards. Besides, I made a net and caught great quan- 
tities of fish, which supplied ourselves and many others ; so that, 
notwithstanding, it was thought that nearly three thousand 
persons came in the first year, we were so providentially pro- 
vided for that we could buy a deer for two shillings, and a large 
turkey for one shilling, and Indian corn for two shillings and six- 
pence a bushel." 

The government having been organized, peace with 
the natives confirmed, the fundamental law Penn's 

established, and courts of justice instituted. Departure 
Penn, in August, 1684, sailed for England, with this 



34 



A History of Pennsylvania 




William Penn House. 
In Fairmount Park, PhiladelpMa. 



parting prayer upon his lips: "And thou, Philadelphia, 
the virgin settlement of this province, my soul prays 
to God for thee, that thou may est stand in the day of 

trial, and that thy 
children may be 
blessed." His family, 
his estate, and certain 
matters pertaining to 
his colony, especially 
the boundary be- 
tween it and Mary- 
land, made his return 
necessary. These 
affairs kept him in 
England till 1699. 
When he returned, Philadelphia had more than two 
thousand houses ; and he walked the streets almost a 
stranger. He found that his influence 
was not what it had been when he left, 
fifteen years before. HoAvever, he was 
warmly welcomed by the Indians. He 
made two journeys at this time to the 
interior of the province. He sailed for 
England in October, 1701, where a riot- 
ous son and an unfaithful steward had 
plunged him so deeply into debt that he 
had to mortgage his province for 6,600 
pounds and suffer imprisonment besides. 
Penn negotiated to sell his right in 
the government to the Crown, but Penns ciock. 

, . , .^, , . . ^„-,ct In the Philadelphia 

was stricken with paralysis, m 171J. Librarj-. 
He died six years later ; bnt his name will live as long 
as Father Time remembers the history of Pennsylvania. 




The Settlement of Pennsylvania 35 

The Friends originally differed little in dress from 
the other non- conformists to the Church characteristics 
of England. They all opposed the display °^ *^« P"«"*i« 
then so much made by the upper classes. When the 
Friends started as a sect, broad-brimmed hats were com- 
mon, and so were coats with straight collars. The dral) 
they chose as their color because it differed least from the 
uncolored state of cloth. They respected all honorable 
occupations alike. William Penn wanted his children 
to become husbandmen and housewives, and one of, 
his sons learned the trade of a linen draper. Laborers ! 
were not looked upon as drudges, though it must be 
admitted that some of them were slaves. However, 
the Friends, as early as 1693, advised that none 
should "buy except to free." Not far from Frankford 
was an old tombstone, the inscription on which says 
that the occupant of the grave. Friend Sandiford, 
"bore testimony against the Negro trade." 

The Friends have always been noted for intelligence. 
Within three years of Penn's landing, a Marks of 
printing press was running in Philadelphia, intelligence 
One of its earliest publications was an almanac, printed 
in the year 1685. William Bradford brought with him 
from England type, a press, printing paper, and ink, 
to set up the trade of printing Friends' books. The 
first newspaper, "The American Weekly Murcury," was 
started in Philadelphia December 22, 1719, at which 
time there were only two others in the colonies, 
namely, in Boston. Penn established a post office in 
1683; and in 1717, there was a settled route from Vir- 
ginia and Maryland to Philadelphia and to all the 
northern colonies. Pennsylvania was even then the 
Keystone Province. The botanic garden of John 



36 



A History of Pennsylvania 



Bartram, whom Lmnasus called "the greatest natural 
botanist in the world," became a Mecca for scientists, 
and many a visitor to Philadelphia inquired his way 

to Bartram' s garden, 
on the Schuylkill, As 
to schools, the Friends 
favored an elementary 
education for all alike 
— the rich and the 
poor ; but they were 
opposed to great 
scholarship ; yet now 
they have a Bryn 
Mawr, a Haverford 
and a Swarthmore Col- 
lege. Art and poetry 
were also under the 
ban of then- doctrine ; 
yet there arose among 
them a West and a 
Taylor. 

The chief immigration of the Friends took place 
other before the year 1700. Up to that time 

Eneiish Settlers they wcrc the most numerous class of 
people in the province. Other English settlers, how- 
ever, had found their way to Pennsj^lvania, but in 
much smaller numbers. Chief among these were the 
Episcopalians, or people of the Church of England, 
some of whom arrived soon after Penn. By the 
charter of the province they had the right to establish 
a parish whenever twenty or more petitioned for one. 
This was done in 1695, and Christ church, with its 
first bell hung in the crotch of a tree, was built on 




Old Cypress in Bartram's Garden. 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 



37 



Second street, north of Market. The present brick 
building, so full of historic interest, was begun in 
1727 and completed in 1755. Benjamin Franklin was 
one of the managers of the lottery (a method quite 




Christ Churcli. 

common in those days for raising church funds) by 
which money was secured for the steeple and the 
chimes. On July 4, 1776, these chimes, the second 
in America, joined the old bell on Independence Hall 
in proclaiming "liberty throughout the land unto all 
the inhabitants thereof." 



38 



A History of Pennsylvania 



Washington worshipped in this church frequently, 
and the pew in which he sat was presented to Inde- 
pendence Hall. In the chancel were buried the remains 
of John Penn (afterwards removed to England), Bishop 
White, Robert Morris, General Forbes, and other dis- 
tinguished men. In the graveyard at Fifth and Arch, 
Franklin and his wife Deborah, General James Irvine, 
Peyton Randolph, president of the first Continental 
Congress, Francis Hopkinson, Commodore Bainbridge, 
and others noted in their country^ s historj', lie at 
rest. The first regular minister of Christ church was 
Rev. Thomas Clayton, under whose ministrations the 
membership increased to seven hundred in two years. 
Rev. Jacob Duche, who opened the first Continental 
Congress with that remarkable prayer (see p. 146), 
officiated at the time of the Revolution. His successor, 
Rev. William White, served as rector till 1836. 

At first the Episcopalians spread rapidly over the 
Their province, but most of them lived in Phila- 

settiements (jgipjiia, wherc they became very prominent 
in political and social life. Some of the Quaker 

families joined them, 
among whom were the 
sons of Penn. They 
also absorbed most of 
the Swedish popula - 
tion, and the Gloria 
Dei at Wicaco, as 
well as other Swedish 
churches, became their 
property. Around 
early organized several 
congregations. At Radnor, St. David's church is to 




St I).i%i(ls, ut Radnor. 



Philadelphia, they quite 



The Settlement of Penrtsylvania 39 

this day a most interesting relic of colonial his- 
tory, for it is well-nigh two hundred years old. 
Other places where the Episcopalians were in suffi- 
cient numbers to have church organizations were 
Chester, Bristol, Perkiomen, Pequea and Lancaster. 

THE GERMANS 

As William Penn offered impartial liberty of con- 
science to all who were under religious p^^^^ Travels 
oppression, Pennsylvania was "an asylum in HoUand 

to the good and oppressed of every na- *"^ Germany 
tion." The Germans, after the Friends, were the first 
to become interested in his " holy experiment." Penn, 
whose mother was a Dutch woman, had twice been 
traveling in Holland and Germany, preaching the 
doctrine of the " inner light," first in the year 1671, 
and again in 1677, when he was accompanied by George 
Fox and several others. Their preaching made them 
many devoted friends in various denominations ; but 
they were most kindly received by the Mennonites. 
These people, like the Friends, took not the sword, 
swore not at all, w^ere non-resistant, and in dress and 
speech were plain and in manners simple. The tran- 
sition between the two sects was easy. Quakers in 
some instances became Mennonites, and Mennonites 
became Quakers. Having thus become associates in 
religion while still in Europe, it was natural that the 
two sects should become neighbors in the wilds of 
America. The Mennonites had been driven up and 
down the Rhine by persecution for a century and a 
half, and they now gladly braved the dangers of the 
sea to find a haven of rest beyond it. 



40 A History of Pennsylvania 

Before Penn had come to America, one Jacob 
Some Mennon- Tcliier, of Crefcld, a town on the Rhine 
ites here just outsidc of Holland, had made a 

before Penn j. a • j.* i j. 

voyage to America some time between 
1678 and 1681. This was the first step in the settle- 
ment of Germantown by the Mennonites. Furthermore, 
twenty years before Penn's arrival, in 1662, a small 
company of about twenty -five Dutch Mennonites had 
settled on Delaware bay. They were scattered and 
destroyed by the English when that country was taken 
from the Dutch. The leader and his wife escaped ; 
and after wandering in the wilderness many years, 
they came to Germantown, where they were cared for 
by their brethren. 

Telner, early in 1682, organized a company among 
Germantown his ucighbors and bought a large tract of 
Settled land near Philadelphia. Another company in 

Germany, the Frankfort Company, had also made large 
purchases ; but none of these from Frankfort, except 
Francis Daniel Pastorius, Whittier's "Pennsylvania 
Pilgrim," settled here. This distinguished man came 
to Philadelphia August 20, 1683, and, like many of the 
settlers, dwelt for a time in a cave. He was a great 
scholar, having mastered seven or eight languages 
and being well read in science and philosophy. He 
was the American representative of both German com- 
panies, and with thirteen families of Cref elders, com- 
prising thirty- three persons, founded Germantown. 
The Cref elders arrived six weeks after Pastorius, 
October 6, on the ship Concord, with passports written 
on parchment in golden ink. A few days afterwards, 
fourteen divisions of land were measured off, and 
the German pioneers repaired to the cave of Pastorius 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 41 

to draw lots for the choice of location. Cellars were 
at once dug and huts built over them. William Penn 
was present when the first two-story house was erected, 
and helped to eat the raising dinner. Other immigrants 
began to arrive in the little town soon afterwards. 
Peter Schumacher was the first to come from Kris- 
heim, in the Palatinate, where the fruits of Penn's 
early preaching were more bountiful than anywhere 
else in Germany or Holland. 

The early dwellers of Germantown had a hard 
struggle with poverty. Pastorius tells us 

Early struggles 

that the settlement was so poor that it 
became the subject of a pun, and was called "Armen- 
town." He said that it would not be believed by com- 
ing generations in what want and need, and with what 
Christian contentment and persistent industry, German- 
town started. He himself had to use oiled paper to 
let the light into his house, and over the door he 
had written : " Parva domus, amica bonis, procul este 
profani." At the end of the first year, the settlers had 
improved their condition materially: they had har- 
vested a good crop of Indian corn and buckwheat, 
and had added a few comforts to their houses. 

However, Germantown was not a settlement of farm- 
ers, but of weavers. Pastorius selected for Germantown 
the town seal a clover, with a vine on one industries 
of its leaves, a stalk of flax on another, and a spool 
of thread on the third ; the motto on it was — " Vinum, 
Linum, et Textrinum." It was a place — ■ 

"Where lives High German and Low Dutch, 
Whose trade in weaving linen cloth is much. 
There grows the flax, as also you may know 
That from the same they do divide the tow." 



42 



A History of Pennsylvania 



First Slavery 
Protest 



So many of the Mennonites in Europe had been weavers, 
that certain woven and knit fabrics were known as Men- 
nonite goods. Other manufactures sprung up in and 
around Germantown, for the settlers were nearly all 
skilled workmeu . William Rittinghuysen, a minister from 
Holland, in 1690 built the first paper mill in America, 
on a branch of the Wissahickon. In it was made the 
paper used by the earliest printer in the middle colo- 
nies, William Bradford. Then there were lace makers, 
silversmiths, printers, and other artisans. The settlers 
of Germantown contributed not a little toward making 
Philadelphia the leading manufacturing city of the 
American continent. 

The Mennonites of Germantown enjoy one proud 
distinction. They were the first people in 
America to suggest the abolition of slavery. 
In 1688, under the auspices of Pastorius, they sent a 
petition to the yearly meeting 
of the Friends, saying, in 
effect, that it was not Chris- 
tian-like to buy and keep 
negroes ; but no positive 
judgment was then given by 
the meeting. The petition 
was a quaint and curious 
paper. 

Germantown was the hub 
of the German set- 

The Pietists . 

tlement m Penn- 
sylvania for many years. In 
1694 the Pietists, for whom Pastorius had formed 
a warm attachment in Germany, settled on the Wissa- 
hickon. They were noted for their piety, learniug 




Ho\ise in which Slavery Protest 
was signed. 



TJie Settlement of Pennsylvania 43 

and mysticism. They spent much time in prayer 
and pious meditation, for which purpose they had 
caves in the rugged ravine of the Wissahickon. 
They put up a building, designed for religious and 
educational purposes, on the highest point of their land. 
It was surmounted with an observatory, the first in the 
province. On top of this was raised the mystic symbol 
— a cross within a circle — in such a position that 
the rays of the rising sun would flood it with a roseate 
hue. Later, in 1734, a massive stone structure was 
built farther up the stream ; it is still known as the 
"monastery on the Wissahickon." One of their asso- 
ciates, Christoph Saur, published a newspaper which 
circulated among all the Germans in the colonies, 
from New York to Georgia. He printed the German 
bible as early as 1743, about forty years before the 
English bible was printed in America, and he was 
among the first to print a magazine on this side 
of the Atlantic. He made his type, paper and ink, 
and bound his own books. He also issued an almanac, 
which, together with his paper, made him a great 
power among the Germans in America, especially 
among those in Pennsylvania. 

Germantown also became the original home of the 
Tunkers, or German Baptists, in America; 

' i- ? -. . The Tunkers 

but they did not arrive until 1719. Chris- 
toph Saur, son of Christoph, the publisher, became 
an elder in this denomination. As the successor to 
his father's business, he was a prominent man in the 
province. With others of his sect, he took an active 
part in the establishment of the Germantown Academy. 
Through his almanacs and other publications, he 
too, was widely known outside of Pennsylvania. 



44 A History of Pennsylvania 

^fter 1700, German immigration to Pennsylvania 
German ^^^ ^^ longcr confined to those who had 

immiErration been influenced by Penn's visit to the con- 
increases tinent. The English government now en- 
couraged the Germans to come to America to add 
strength to its population for competition with the 
French. The Golden Book of Queen Anne, which 
gave glowing accounts of the colonies, was circulated 
far and wide in the German states. 

In 1708 and 1709, large numbers crossed to Eng- 
land and were temporarily sheltered in tents on the 
commons of London while waiting for transportation 
to America. Pennsylvania was the favorite colony 
with the Germans, and by the year 1725 fifty thou- 
sand had made their way hither. "We shall soon 
have a German colony," wrote James Logan, the 
Provincial Secretary in 1726, "so many thousands 
of Germans are already in the country." Fears were 
entertained that the province might not remain loyal 
to the English government. Immigrants came from 
the German side of Switzerland and Holland, from 
Swabia, Alsace, and Saxony, but most from the Palati- 
nate. There the ruler was now of one church, then 
of another, and with every change the people had to 
conform or suffer. So many German immigrants were 
from the Palatinate that the name Palatine was given 
to all of them. Thus Whittier's poem about the ship 
that was wrecked on Block Island, in 1738, was named 
"The Palatine." 

As many of the so-called Palatines were too poor 
German to pay for thc passagc across the sea, they 

Redcmptioners ^^j.g hired out for a term of years to 
pay for their transportation. Such were called 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 



45 




^^redemptioners." In many cases parents pledged 
their children in this manner. 

These later German settlers pressed out into the 
wilderness, and left Philadelphia and the The Germans 
country around it to the English and on the Frontier 
to the Germans in and about Germantown. They 
filled the Lehigh and ..^ 

Schuylkill valleys, _ li^SOi^S^^lTfe;. 

settling in Easton, 
Northampton town 
(Allentown), Read- 
ing, Lebanon, and 
Lancaster. Thence 
they pushed on to 
the Susquehanna, 
down into the Cum- 
berland valley and up 
into the Juniata and 

Susquehanna valleys. By 1750, the Germans consti- 
tuted one- third of the entire colony, which numbered 
about 270,000 people. Today they form the bulk 
of the population in many counties, and there is 
no section of the State in which scattered German 
families may not be found. 

The Germans who thus pushed into the wilderness 
were of various religious denominations. various 

The Schwenkf elders, who, like the Friends, Religious 

Mennonites and Tunkers, opposed war, enomina»o"s 
oaths and display, settled on contiguous lands in Mont- 
gomery, Lehigh and Berks, in 1734, where they live 
today, numbering all told less than a thousand. They 
still celebrate the anniversary of their arrival as a day 
of thanksgiving. They had been the victims of perse- 



A Colonial Homestead near 
Germantown. 



46 



A History of Fennsylvmiia 



The Moravians 



cution in Europe for more than three hundred years, 
and had to worship in secret to prevent detection. 
Hence they became accustomed to worship in private 
houses', and for fifty years after their arrival in Penn- 
sylvania they had few public meeting-houses. There 
was no ringing of bells and chanting of hymns. 
The Moravians settled in Northampton county, at 
Nazareth, in 1739, and at Bethlehem in 
1741. Thej^ had first gone to Georgia, 
but that province wanted them to do military duty, 
which their conscience forbade. Their leader was 
Count Zinzendorf, a man well known in Europe and 
America. They were communists, and carried on about 
thirty trades for the benefit of the church. They even 
sailed several ships on the sea. Bethlehem la.y along 
the line of travel from New England to the South, 

and its Moravian 
inns were famous 
throughout the land 
for their hospitality. 
The "Sun" enter- 
tained under its roof 
most of the leading 
men of the country 
as long as they trav- 
eled by stage. The 
great work of the 
Moravians for the 
province was the 
conversion of Indi- 
ans, the fruits of which were largely destroyed by 
the French and Indian war. Much of what we know 
of Indian life in Pennsylvania was recorded by the 




Moravian Sim lun. 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 47 

Moravian missionaries, notably by Heckewelder. The 
schools of this pious sect were also widely known, 
and many young ladies and gentlemen from far and 
wide received their education in them. 

Another equally unique settlement was made at 
Ephrata, Lancaster county, by a branch of ^^^^^^^ 
the Tunkers of Germantown, known as the 
Seventh Day Baptists. Their leader was Conrad Beisel, 
a Pietist. His settlement became known as the Mon- 
astery of Ephrata, on 
the Cocalico creek, and 
some of its strange 
buildings are still 
standing. There was 
a house for the broth- 
ers and a house for 

the sisters . Among ^^^^^^^^, ^^^ g.^^^^^, ^^^^^^ ^^ Ephrata. 
the numerous manu- 
facturing industries was a printing house. Some forty 
books of a religious and educational character were 
printed in it, besides many tracts and hymns. Just 
before the battle of Germantown, three wagon loads 
of books in sheets were seized there for cartridges. 
While the Continental Congress sat at York, this print- 
ing house struck off paper money for the government. 
There was a school in the place that attracted pupils as 
far away as Philadelphia and Baltimore. Its rooms 
were used as a hospital for American soldiers after the 
battle of the Brandywine. Peter Miller, second prior 
of the monastery, was one of the most learned men 
in America. He translated the Declaration of In- 
dependence into seven languages by order of Con- 
gress. 




48 A History of Pennsylvania 

The Mennonites that came to Pennsylvania after 
other 1700, settled in upper Bucks, Montgomery, 

German Sects Qhcster, and Lancaster counties. Numer- 
ous other German sects came to Pennsylvania which 
it is not essential to describe. It was said that every 
sect in the world had followers in Pennsylvania. 

The Germans remaining to be considered were 
The Reformers *^® church pcoplc — the Reformed and the 
and the Luthcraus. They did not arrive in large 

erans numbcrs until about 1725. Some four hun- 
dred Reformed settled along the Skippack, in Mont- 
gomery county, in 1727. Others followed, and in 1747 
Rev. Michael Schlatter organized the Reformed Church 
of Pennsylvania as a part of the Synod of Holland. 
The Lutherans, who began to arrive soon after the 
Reformed, were much more numerous. Their leader was 
Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg. He was the father of 
Peter, the general of the Revolution; of Frederick, the 
first Speaker of the House of Representatives ; and of 
Gotthilf, the botanist. Muhlenberg came to America 
in 1742, and, with the two churches at New Hanover 
and New Providence, in Montgomery county, as a nu- 
cleus, he organized the Lutheran Church of America. 
The congregation at the former place is supposed to 
be the oldest of this denomination in the United 
States. Muhlenberg and his son Peter are buried in 
the graveyard of this church. As larger numbers of 
Reformed and Lutherans had come to America before 
their leaders, and scattered through half a dozen coun- 
ties in search of a place to work and live, their organi- 
zation into congregations was a tedious and difficult 
task. However, it was a good work, for the sound of 
church bells reminded the settlers of their higher duties. 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 



49 



The followers of Schlatter and Muhlenberg were 
always quite friendly with each other ; in Their Relation 
rural districts, they commonly worshipped *° ^^^^ o*^" 
in the same church. The school house was generally 




To Church on Horseback. 



the companion of the church. Having been established 
churches in Germany, the Reformed and the Lutherans 
had an educated and paid ministry ; hence colleges to 
educate the ministry were founded as soon as the means 
were at hand. Frequently those who looked forward to 
the ministry were sent to Germany to be educated. The 
Reformed and Lutherans also made an effort to spread 
the English language among the Germans. Muhlenberg 
himself taught English, and was careful to have his 
sons educated in it before sending them to Germany. 
Schlatter raised a fund in England, Holland and Ger- 
many for teaching the Pennsylvania Germans Eng- 
lish. Under the direction of a board of trustees 
composed of members of the provincial government, he 
established schools in Reading, York, Easton, Lan- 
caster, New Hanover and Skippack. These began their 
existence in 1754, but died out in 1763 for want of 
support. 



50 



A History of Pennsylvania 



The Germans 
as Farmers 



In colonial days, agriculture was the chief occupa- 
tion. Then governors, lawmakers, and 
magistrates were farmers. Even in the 
early history of the Republic, presidents, congressmen, 
and framers of constitutions were followers of the 
plow. In this occupation, the Pennsylvania Germans 
excelled, and they therefore clung to the soil and to 
rural life with great tenacity. They were good judges 
of land ; they worked hard, and practiced severe econ- 
omy. They cleared the land that had the heaviest 
timber, for they knew it would produce the heaviest 
crops ; and they often grew rich where others had be- 




A Lebanon Valley Farm. 



come poor. They contributed much to the material 
wealth of the State. Their farms are not surpassed 
anywhere in the world. 

Coming here in numbers large enough to form a 
^^ ^ colony of their own, sequestering them- 

The German ^^^ ^ J ' i 

Language in sclvcs iu thc couutry, aud settling entire 
Pennsylvania ^jQ^^^^ics exclusivcly, the Gemiaus naturally 
kept their own language, literature and customs. Be- 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 51 

fore the postal system, the newspaper, the railroad, 
the telegraph, and other means of swift communica- 
tion, had enabled the people of distant parts to know 
one another, a settlement so large as that of the Ger- 
mans yielded very slowly to changes from the outside. 
In our day such isolation is no longer possible, and 
they are fast acquiring the use of the English lan- 
guage for all purposes — the home, the school, and 
the church. 

Though the Pennsylvania Germans in some re- 
spects remained Germans outwardly for two centuries, 
they are Americans at heart. They help to administer 
the local government, and hundreds have sat in the 
General Assembly. Eight have occupied the guber- 
natorial chair, and many have written their names on 
the national roll of honor. They have been in both 
houses of Congress, in the Speaker's chair, and in 
the President's Cabinet. Through their industry and 
frugality, they have contributed a large share to the 
material resources of the State. In time of war they 
have likewise done their duty. In 1775, they shared 
the honor with their Scotch -Irish neighbors on the 
frontier of being among the first troops called by the 
Continental Congress — expert riflemen raised in Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland and Virginia. The rifle, which 
was then unknown in New England, had been brought 
to Pennsylvania by the Swiss and Palatines, about 
1700. Nor should it be forgotten that the Moravian 
missionaries, both in the French and in the Revolu- 
tionary wars, warded off many a fatal blow from the 
tomahawk ; and that Conrad Weiser, interpreter and 
agent of Indian affairs in the province, was a host 
in himself in the management of the savages. 



52 A History of Pennsylvania 

THE WELSH 

The Welsh began to come in 1682, soon after the 
The colony had been planted ; bnt their immi- 
weish Tract gration practically ceased with the close 
of the century. Dr. Thomas Wynne, Penn's friend 
and physician, and a few others, came in the Welcome. 
These people settled on a large tract of land along 
the ridge extending back from the Schuylkill as far 
as Paoli. Their settlement was called the Welsh 
Barony; it has since been known as the Welsh Tract. 
The three townships in the tract were Merion, Haver- 
ford and Radnor. As their number increased 
they spread out into other townships. Some went as 
far west as Lancaster county, and gave their name 
to the Welsh mountains there ; others located as far 
east as Gwynedd and Penllyn, north of Philadelphia. 
In passing along the Pennsylvania railroad, beginning 
with Berwyn, various stations commemorate Welsh 
names of two hundred years ago. Bryn Mawr — the 
great hill — was the home of Minister Rowland. Wynne- 
wood honors the name of Doctor Wynne, whose pro- 
fession reminds us of the fact that nearly all the 
early physicians of the colony were Welshmen. George 
Washington's physician was the great-grandson of 
Dr. Wynne. The father of our State and the "father 
of our country" entrusted their lives to the care of 
Welsh physicians. The name of Montgomery county 
was brought from Wales, and Blue Ball tells of the 
numerous inns along the Lancaster pike — a great 
historic highway that had its beginning in the trail 
made through the forest by the first wandering 
Welshman. 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 53 

The Welsh, like the settlers of Germantown, came 
to Pennsylvania to form a settlement in 
which they could regulate their own affairs. 
Being the descendants of the ancient Britons, dwelling 
in a separate corner of England, and speaking a 
distinct language, their purpose was very natural. 
Most of them were Friends, and had known William 
Penn in England. Though at first they could not 
understand the English language, they soon absorbed it, 
and lost their outward identity. Several things helped 
to bring this about. One was the schism made among 
them by Friend George Keith, who seems to have had 
a special hatred for the Welsh Brethren. Another 
trouble was the division of their barony. In the 
absence of Penn, it was divided between Philadelphia 
and Chester counties. Later on, when the Welsh 
objected to the quit-rents on their unoccupied lauds, 
the Welsh Tract was thrown open to everybody. 

'Most names of the Welsh settlers have likewise 
become Anglicized. Thus, ap John (ap 

" . ', f . ^ Welsh Names 

meanmg son of) became John's (son) or 
Jones ; ap Edward, Edwards ; ap William, Williams ; 
ap Robert, Roberts ; others, as ap Hugh, became 
Pugh, ap Howell, Powell, etc. Thomas Lloyd, deputy- 
governor of the province, was a Welshman, and so 
were the Cadwaladers, Merediths and Owenses. 

THE SCOTCM-IBISS 

The Scotch -Irish were people from Scotland who 
had gone to Ireland to occupy the lands Their origin 
taken from Irish rebels by Queen Eliza- ^"'^ settlements 
beth and James I. In religion they were Presbyteri- 



54 A History of Pennsylvania 

ans, and by occupation, farmers. They were drawn to 
Pennsylvania by its fame for religious liberty and 
fertility of soil. They began to arrive soon after 
1700, the earliest ones settling in the lower part of 
Chester and Lancaster counties. About 1720, the set- 
tlement containing the famous Log College was made 
on the Neshaminy, in Bucks county. Another body 
located at the Forks of the Delaware, in Northampton 
county ; these had first gone to New Hampshire, but 
found the climate too cold. Donegal, Lancaster county, 
and Paxtang, Derry, and Hanover, Dauphin county, 
were Scotch -Irish localities at one time ; but the Cum- 
berland valley received the greatest number. 

Being an aggressive people, collisions with the Ger- 
As mans frequently occurred. The officials of 

Frontiersmen ^^q proviucc therefore encouraged the Ger- 
mans to locate in the eastern parts and the Scotch- 
Irish to go westward. This arrangement was agree- 
able ; for the Scotch -Irish were the very men to face 
the wilderness and resist the attacks of wild beasts 
and savage men. When, in 1768, the land bej'ond 
the Alleghenies was thrown open for settlement, they 
welcomed the opportunity thus presented of planting 
the standard of progress a few hundred miles further 
into the pathless forest. 

Acting thus as pioneers, their conduct towards the 
Relations with Indians was as warlike as that of the 
the Indians Quakers had been peaceful. The expe- 

rience of their forefathers in Ireland was a school 
for frontier life of a more aggressive kind than had 
existed while the Quakers and Germans faced the Red 
Man. The Indians had now been driven farther and 
farther west by the tidal wave of immigration, and 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 55 

peace was hard to maintain. When the French and 
Indian war broke out, the Scotch -Irish settlers on the 
frontier had to face many a fatal attack, for some of 
which they had themselves to blame. Their disturb- 
ance of the peace policy of the province caused the 
Quakers to form a dislike for them. Hence we find 
that these two classes of people at one time waged a 
bitter war of words. 

When, in 1763, Pontiac's war broke out along the 
frontier of Pennsylvania and Virginia, the The 

Rev. John Elder, of the Paxtang church," p«^*^"^^°^^" 
by. authority of the province, organized several com- 
panies of rangers— volunteer bands of frontiersmen— 
to protect the settlers against Indian atrocities. They 
did duty as far north as Wyoming; but their main 
service was performed along the Susquehanna south 
of the Blue mountains. Here some Indians committed 
deed after deed of bloody violence; but where they 
came from was a mystery. Suspicion was awakened 
that they were harbored by the Christian Indians— 
the refuse of various tribes — who lived on the Manor, 
a tract of land near Columbia, belonging to the Penns. 
Colonel Elder, John Harris, the founder of Harrisburg, 
and others, asked John Penn, the Governor, to remove 
these Indians, whose character, it was claimed, did not 
put them above suspicion. The Governor declined to 
do this, on the ground that they were "innocent, help- 
less, and dependent on the government for support." 
The "Paxtang Boys" then resolved to take the law 
into their own hands, but not without the protest of 
Colonel Elder. They went to the settlement at night, 
but their presence was prematurely announced by the 
doo-s. The dwellers of the Manor rushed out of their 



56 A History of Fennsylvcmia 

wigwams and wildly brandished their tomahawks. The 
rangers leveled their guns and quickly killed the 
Indians. But not all of them were at home, and when 
those absent learned of the fate of their brethren, they 
hastened to Lancaster and sought safety in the jail. 
A few made their way to Philadelphia. Chagrined at 
the escape of some of the Indians, the rangers resolved 
to complete their work. They went to Lancaster, broke 
into the jail, and shot the fugitive Conestogas. . After 
that, the settlers south of the Blue mountains had 
little annoyance from the Indians. 

However, the end of the excitement had not yet 
A Panic in comc. The Govcmor and the Assembly con- 
Phiiadeiphia ^emucd the action of the "Paxtang Boys" 
so severely that the frontiersmen sent a delegation to 
explain their grievances. This was interpreted to 
mean a show of force. The authorities in Philadelphia 
put the Indian refugees under guard in the garri- 
son, and sent an armed force to Germantown to meet 
the delegation. The latter made known their griev- 
ances, and were then conducted to Philadelphia. 
Among other things, the "Paxtang Boys" objected 
to being tried in Philadelphia, Bucks or Chester, 
which the government proposed to do. Though the 
Assembly did not yield this point, yet no convic- 
tion for the killing of the Conestoga Indians was^ 
ever had. 

It is true, the Scotch -Irish allowed their rough, 
. . vigorous and independent qualities to lead 

Characteristics . ^ ^ 

them into excesses at times ; yet these 
qualities made them a power in the land. The hard- 
ships and dangers which they braved on the frontier 
gave them grit and strength ; and, now that time has 



The Settlement of Pennsylvania 57 

polished the exterior, they are strong and shining 
pillars in the structure of the state and nation. In 
colonial times, they were in a formative period ; when 
the Revolution came, they w^ere ready and eager for 
the struggle that tried men's souls and sinews. The 
French war was an excellent school for drilling the 
Continental soldiers ; but none were better drilled than 
the Scotch -Irish of Pennsylvania ^ a fact well known 
to the Continental Congress, in 1775. 

THE FRENCH HUGUENOTS 

Pennsylvania also became a refuge for sundry 
French families of the persecuted Hugue- ^^ . „ , 

^ . Their Settlement 

nots. They bore the names of Dubois, 
Boileau, Laroux, Lefevre, De Turk, De-ller, Dox, 
Ferree, and others. They came here, under the influ- 
ence of William Penn, to plant vineyards and cultivate 
grapes "up the Schuylkill." Not succeeding there, 
they removed to the Pequea valley, then in Chester 
county, now in Lancaster. The removal was brought 
about by the arrival in 1712 of Madame Ferree, a 
widow who had lost her husband in the massacres in 
France which followed the revocation of the Edict of 
Nantes. She had fled to England, and was there aided 
in her immigration to Pennsylvania by William Penn. 
He gave her a grant of two thousand acres of land 
in Pequea valley, and she bought two thousand more. 
To this place all the French people went for settle- 
ment. They were heartily welcomed by some. Delaware 
Indians there, and when the Indian chief died, the 
Huguenots attended the burial. His grave, on Lafayette 
Hill, near Paradise, was marked with a pile of stones, 



58 A History of Pennsylvania 

which long remained to mark the spot. The descendants 
of these French families are found chiefly in Berks, 
Lancaster and Dauphin counties. 

Though the settlers of Pennsylvania were of various 
Nationalities sccts, churchcs, and nationalities, which at 
Disappear timcs had quarrcls more or less serious, 
we, their heirs and descendants, know no such differ- 
ences in the discharge of our duties to the govern- 
ment. We are all Pennsylvanians now ; and the 
question whether a citizen is English, German, Welsh, 
Scotch -Irish, or French, happily never enters our 
mind. Nor do we inquire into his religious prefer- 
ences. With us today it is — 

"The union of hearts, the union of hands, 
And the flag of our Union forever." 



BOOKS FOR READING AND CONSULTATION 

Egle's History of Penyisylvania, pp. 28-52, 438-453, 517-546, 
612-682, 814-854, 863-879, 950-960, 965-996, 1015 1048, and 
1169-1180; Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. II, pp. 
78-130; Walton and Brumbaugh's Stories of Pennsylvania, pp. 
9-79 and 297-300; Sypher's History of Pennsylvania, pp. 9-46; 
Fisher's Making of Pennsylvania, pp. 7-236 ; Stoughton's William 
Penn, passim; Saehe's The Fatherland, passim; Diffenderfer's 
German Exodus; Bowden's History of The Friends, Part II, pp. 
1-221; Glenn's Merion in the Welsh Tract, pp. 1-55; The Eighth 
Congress of the Scotch-Irish in America, pp. 71-82. 



CHAPTER III 

THE GROWTH OF POPULATION AND THE 
ADJUSTMENT OF BOUNDARIES 



A Double 
Movement 



In the settlement of Pennsylvania we noticed a 
double wave of population sweeping in 
from the southeast ; the Scotch -Irish, with 
their daring energy and restlessness, in advance, and 
the Germans, with their plodding industry and stead- 
fastness, following and permanently occupying the 
soil. This movement is most plainly recorded in the 
Kittatinny valley. Throughout its length — from 
Easton to Maryland — are found places and grave- 
stones bearing Scotch -Irish 
names. These people entered 
the Kittatinny valley at va- 
rious points, about the year 
1730. Between 1745 and 
1750, they passed through 
the gaps west of the Susque- 
hanna. Thence they rapidly 
followed the main streams 
toward the north and west. 
The Germans began to ar- 
rive in greatest numbers 
about the year 1740, the time when the Scotch-Irish 
immigration had reached its height. In many places 
the Germans succeeded to the lands formerly occu- 
pied by the Scotch -Irish*. It was the onward flew 




Derry Church (1729), Dauphii 
County. 



(59) 



60 A History of Pennsylvania 

of these two classes of people that caused a demand 
for land, and made the Indian purchases from 1736 
to 1758 necessary (see map, p. 6). Easton, Allentown 
(called Northamptontown till about 1800), Reading, 
Lebanon, Harrisburg, York (called Yorktown and Little 
York), Carlisle, and Shippensburg (except York, the 
oldest town west of the Susquehanna) , were all founded 
within these years. 

Under Penn and his sons, there were three divisions 
Divisions of their land in the province : first, the 

of the Land commou lauds, constituting the bulk of it, 
and selling at a uniform price, which up to 1713 was 
five pounds per hundred acres, and one shilling quit- 
rent, but later, double and triple this amount; second, 
the Proprietary tenths, or manors, reserved and held 
by the Proprietary ; third, the private estates of the 
individual members of the Proprietary, purchased 
from one another or from other persons. The quit- 
rents were paid by the tenant to be "quit and free " 
from all feudal service ; and they were used to pay 
the expenses of the government. They ranged in 
value from a pepper-corn, a red rose, an Indian arrow, 
a buck's foot, a bear skin, or a bushel of wheat, to 
several shillings per hundred acres. From the be- 
ginning there was difficulty with the payment of 
quit-rents ; some refused to pay them, while others 
neglected to pay them, or, paying them, did not get 
a proper credit. Thousands of persons settled without 
any titles to their lands. Many of these afterwards 
secured titles, but some did not. In 1797 a law 
was passed requiring the present owners of such 
unpatented lands to satisfy the State's claims ; but 
the law was allowed to go by default. 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 61 

After the Declaration of Independence the State, 
in 1779, annulled the Royal Charter, and state gets the 
paid the Penns 130,000 pounds sterling for common Lands 
their rights in the common lands. They retained, how- 
ever, their manors and their private property, and so 
were still the largest landowners in the State. The 
larger part of what remains of the old Penn manors 
is in and around Wilkes-Barre — in the Sunhury manor, 
in Plymouth, Salem and Jackson townships. The Penn 
estate also owns about three dozen ground -rents in 
northern Philadelphia, in what was the Manor of 
Springettsbury, and one irredeemable ground -rent on 
property in Race street near Twenty -first. This, 
with some reversionary rights in ground granted by 
Penn for public buildings, is the sum total of posses- 
sions in Pennsylvania now belonging to the heirs of 
Penn. They had also, until within a few years, 
received from the British government an annuity of 
4,000 pounds for their losses in the Revolution. 

Penn's policy in purchasing lands from the Indians 
was always an honest one. His sons, though penn's 

in the main carrying out their father's LandPoiicy 
policy, had to deal with a greater and more difficult 
problem. They had to satisfy the Red Man when 
it became evident that the white man would eventually 
have the last foot of soil in Pennsylvania. Hence, 
some of the later land dealings were not free from 
injustice. This was the case with the historic "walking 
purchase." 

It was the custom of the Indians to measure land 
by walking or riding on horseback. In The "walking 
1686, William Penn bought a tract of land Purchase" 
along the Delaware, extending "back into the woods 



62 A History of Pennsylvania 

as far as man can go in one day and a half." When 
the white settlers reached the Lehigh hills, below 
Easton, the Indians became uneasy, and wanted the 
walk performed. The time fixed for it was September 
19, 1737; and the starting point, a tree near Wrights- 
town, Bucks county. The Proprietary had employed 
three men — Marshall, Yeates and Jennings — all fleet 
on foot ; and the Delaware Indians, three men. The 
walkers were under the supervision of the sheriff of 
Bucks county and the surveyor -general of Pennsyl- 
vania, and were accompanied by a number of spectators, 
some of whom carried refreshments. The walkers kept 
a northerl}^ course on the Durham road to Durham 
creek, thence, a northwesterly^ course ; they forded the 
Lehigh at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and reached the 
Hockendauqua at sunset. Jennings and two of the 
Indians had given out the first day ; hence the others 
resumed the walk alone the next morning. Having 
passed through the Lehigh Water Gap, Marshall, the 
only one who finished the walk, reached a spur of the 
Broad mountain at 12 o'clock. The distance gone over 
in the day and a-half was about sixty miles. 

Instead of running the shortest line from the end 
of the walk to the Delaware, the surveyor 

Its Extent 

went northeast and struck the mouth of 
the Lackawaxen, thus securing for the Proprietary the 
Forks of the Delaware, on the south side of the Blue 
mountains, and the Mini sink Flats, on the north side 
— both rich and desirable tracts of land (see map, p. 
6). The entire "walking purchase" included the up- 
per portion of Bucks, nearly all of Northampton, and 
parts of Carbon, Monroe and Pike — an area of not 
less than 1,200 square miles. 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 63 

The Delawares complained that the walk was not 
fair — that instead of by the compass across 
the country, it should have been up the 
Delaware by the nearest path, as was done by William 
Penn and their fathers when they tramped leisurely 
together for a day and a half to determine the north- 
ern limit of Markham's purchase of 1682. The In- 
dians in the party also objected to the pace of the 
white walkers, frequently calling to the latter to ivalh 
not to run. One of them said afterwards: "No sit 
down to smoke, no shoot a squirrel, but lun, lun lun, 
all day long." It is stated that it took the surveyor- 
general afterwards four days to walk over the same 
ground. Jennings and Yeates both were supposed to 
have died from the effects of the walk. Marshall 
alone was none the worse, for he died at the ripe old 
age of ninety. 

At the time of the " walking purchase," the Dela- 
ware Indians held their council fires at the 
Minisink Flats. Here, on the Pocono, was 
born the celebrated chief, Tedyuscung, called " Honest 
John" by the English. When his lands had been 
wrested from him by the " walk," more especially by 
the line to the Lackawaxen, the Six Nations, urged 
by the Governor of Pennsylvania, in 1742 ordered the 
Delawares to remove to Wyoming and Shamokin, on 
the Susquehanna. The Six Nations characterized the 
Delawares as "women," and not empowered to sell 
lands. Tedyuscung protested ; but the Iroquois said, 
" Don't deliberate, but remove away." The wrong 
rankled in the hearts of the Delawares like a smoth- 
ered fire ; and when the French and Indian war 
broke out, they openly took sides with the French, and 



64 A History of Pennsylvania 

helped to desolate the frontier. By the time of the 
Revolution, they, together with the Shawanese, who 
had dwelt opposite Wyoming, had all been driven to 
the Ohio river. 

Tedyuscung, at a council held at Easton in 1758, 
A Restoration by the help of the Quakers established 

^^*^* the fact that the Indians had been wronged 
by the "walking purchase" and other land transactions. 
He showed that the Six Nations had given land to the 
Delawares, and then "sold it from under their feet" to 
the whites. As a result of this conference, a large 
tract of land on the Susquehanna, Juniata, Allegheny, 
and Ohio rivers, which had been purchased from the 
Six Nations under a misapprehension, at Albany in 
1754 (see p. 66), was restored to the Indians, and 
many causes of misunderstanding were removed (see 
map, p. 6). Had these wrongs been righted sooner, 
or, better still, never been committed, "the blood of 
Braddock's soldiers would not have been added to the 
price of the land." 

While Pennsylvanians were thus pressing forward 
The Claim and occupyiug the virgin soil from the 
of Connecticut gouthcast through the Delaware and Le- 
high valleys. New Englanders advanced from the north- 
east. The charter of Connecticut, like that of Massa- 
chusetts, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and 
Georgia, defined its western boundary to be the Paci- 
fic ocean. Its southern boundary was to be a straight 
line beginning at the mouth of Narragansett bay. This, 
extended west, would have entered Pennsylvania near 
Stroudsburg and crossed the Susquehanna at Blooms- 
burg. Penn's charter fixed the northern boundary of 
liis province at the forty-second degree of latitude. 



66 A History of Pennsylvania 

A large strip of territory was thus granted to both 
Connecticut and Pennsjdvania. 

In 1753, an association of New Englanders, mostly 
The Albany from Connccticut, called the Susquehanna 
Purchase Company, was formed to make a settlement ^ 

in the territory of Pennsylvania claimed by Connecti- 
cut. The beautiful valley upon the Susquehanna, 
where eleven j^ears before Tedyuscung and his tribe 
had built the town of Wyoming, was selected for the 
purpose. The next year, at the general congress at 
Albany, the Susquehanna Company purchased from the 
Six Nations the lands upon the Susquehanna north of 
the Blue mountains. Pennsylvania protested against 
the purchase, claiming that it had not been made in 
open council, but had been effected by making the 
Indian chiefs drunk. As the congress had been called 
to form a union of the colonies with the Six Nations 
as allies against the French, the purchase was not 
then seriously opposed. Besides, Pennsylvania bought 
a large tract of land from the Six Nations at the same 
time, and in a way not satisfactory to the Indians. 

About the close of the French and Indian war, a 
Connecticut compauy of Connecticut settlers arrived in 
Settles the Wyoming valley ; and, before winter set 

yoming ^^^ extcusive fields of wheat had been sown 
upon lands covered with forest trees in August. But 
owing to the scantiness of provisions, the settlers 
returned to Connecticut for the winter. Early the next 
year, in 1763, they returned, accompanied by many 
others. Notwithstanding the remonstrances of North- 
ampton county, to which the Wyoming valley then 
belonged, settlements were made at Wilkes -Barre, 
Kingston, Plymouth and Hanover. The summer passed 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 67 

with nothing to mar the peace and contentment of 
the New En glanders ; but in October, the Indians fell 
upon them like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, and 
killed about twenty of their number. The others fled — 
some back to Connecticut, some to New York. This 
is known in history as the first massacre of Wyoming. 
It , was the work of the Delawares, whom the wily 
Iroquois had made believe that Tedyuscung had been 
assassinated by the whites. 

The flow of immigration, so violently and suddenly 
checked, did not begin again till 1768. That year, 
at Fort Stanwix, New York, a large tract of land, 
including Wyoming, was bought from the Six Nations 
by the Proprietary, to strengthen its claim to the 
disputed territory (see map, p. 6). Pennsylvania 
settlers now arrived and laid out two manors, one on 
each side of the Susquehanna, and extending over the 
farms abandoned by the New Englanders. Early the 
next year, a party of forty Connecticut men came to 
resume the settlement made before. They located at 
Kingston, and after battling with departing winter, 
enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous summer. The 
"forty" were under the direction of three men, one 
of whom was Zebulon Butler ; and their fort was 
known as the "Forty Fort." In October, the sheriff 
of Northampton county appeared, arrested them and 
marched them to Easton, where they were lodged in 
jail. And now the southern and northern waves of 
population had met in a fierce conflict, known as the 
"Pennamite and Yankee war." Forts and blockhouses 
were constructed, and many sieges and skirmishes fol- 
lowed. Both parties led men to prison, drove women 
and children away, and committed other outrages. 



68 A History of Pennsylvania 

The Connecticut men on the whole were the more 
Westmoreland succcssful in this civil stHfc. They organ- 
Town J2ed a government, made laws, and appointed 
judges and other officers. Their intention was to form 
an independent state ; but they could not maintain 
themselves alone against the Pennamites. So in 1774, 
they attached themselves to Connecticut, as the town 
(township) of Westmoreland, in the county of Litch- 
field, Zebulon Butler was one of the judges. 

With the outbreak of the Revolution there came 
a lull in the strife iu Wyoming. It was 

A Lull 

resolved at a public meeting, "That we will 
unanimously join our brethren of America in the 
common cause of defending our liberty." Two com- 
panies of troops raised in Wyoming joined the Conti- 
nental army, as a part of the Connecticut Line. How- 
ever, as soon as independence had been achieved, the 
old feud broke out in all its former fury. All attacks 
from the Indians being at an end, swarms of new 
settlers arrived and added fuel to the fire. Pennsyl- 
vania having in 1779, by an act of assembly, succeeded 
the heirs of Penn in the possession of all vacant terri- 
tory, now appealed to Congress to settle the dispute. 
By virtue of the Articles of Confederation, that body 
appointed a commission for the purpose. It met at 
Trenton in 1782, and after five weeks of deliberation 
decided, without giving any reasons, that Connecticut 
had no right to the land, and that the jurisdiction and 
preemption of the same belonged to Pennsylvania. 
The settlers were all satisfied with the change of 
jurisdiction: but when Pennsylvania sought 

At War Again '' „ ' ..,..-,. T 

to enforce her preemption rights another 
civil struggle ensued, causing such serious trouble 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 69 

that the militia had to be called out. Colonel 
Timothy Pickering was deputized to use his influence 
for the restoration of order. At length, in 1799, 
after nearly forty years of unparalleled suffering, to 
which a destructive ice -flood in 1794 had contributed 
not a little, affairs were amicably arranged by con- 
firming to the Connecticut settlers the titles to their 
lands on payment of a small price per acre. The 
Pennsylvania claimants were satisfied by paying them 
for the farms they had to give up, or by giving them 
land elsewhere in exchange. 

After the settlement of the land difficulties in 
Wyoming, the valley, which is twenty- one Wyoming 
miles long and three miles wide, enjoyed Prosptrs 
the tranquility of peace. Its rich acres blossomed 
as the rose. The county of Luzerne, named after 
the Chevalier de Luzerne, at that time minister from 
France, had been erected in 1786. Its territory 
then included parts of Bradford (Ontario originally), 
Sullivan, Carbon, and all of Susquehanna and 
Wyoming. Wilkes -Barre, so called in honor of John 
Wilkes and Colonel Barre, members of the British 
Parliament and warm friends of the American colonies 
in the Revolution, was laid out in 1773. 

"Delightful Wyoming ! beneath thy skies 
The happy shepherd swains had naught to do 
But feed their flocks on green declivities, 
Or skim, perchance, thy lake with light canoe." 

With the exception of the Dutch on . the Minisink 
Flats, the Moravian mission station at Gna- The upper 
denhiitten, near the Lehigh, and a few scat- schuyikiu 
tered farms near Orwigsburg, on the Schuylkill, there 



70 



A History of Pennsylvania 



were no settlements, before the Revolution, between 
the Wyoming valley and the Blue mountains (see 
Purchase of 1749, map, p. 6). This tract was not 
much inhabited until after the discovery of anthracite 
coal. 

The settlement of the Susquehanna valley was be- 
gun by John Harris, father of John Harris, 
Susquehanna thc fouudcr of Harrisburg, and the first 

Valley 

white child known to have been born in 
Pennsylvania west of the Conewago hills. The elder 
Harris came from England quite early, and in 1705 got 

permission as a li- 
censed trader "to seat 
himself on the Sus- 
quehanna " and to 
trade with the Indians 
of the Conois creek. 
The lands of the Sus- 
quehanna northward 
to the Blue mountains 
were finally deeded to 
the Proprietors by the 
Indians, in 1736. Penn had first leased this region from 
the governor of New York, who had secured it from 
the Five Nations. The lease was for a thousand years 
at an annual rental of a " pepper -corn." Soon after 
the transaction of 1736, a highway, extending from the 
Delaware to the Susquehanna, was laid out at the 
request of numerous settlers of Paxtang township, 
then in Lancaster, now in Dauphin county. In 1749, 
another purchase was made (see map, p. 6) ; it opened 
the Susquehanna valley for settlement some distance 
beyond the Blue mountains. 




Grave of Jolm Harris, Sr., Harrisburg. 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 71 

Before the white man came to this portion of the 
province, it had been occupied by the Dela- shamokin. 
wares and Shawanese, under the control of °' sunbury 
the Five Nations. They had a town of some fifty 
houses at the fork of the two branches of the Sus- 
quehanna, then Shamokin, now Sunbury. It was the 
residence of Shikellimy, the celebrated Oneida chief, 
who was the vice -king of the Six Nations in Pennsyl- 
vania (see p. 5). Conrad Weiser visited the place as 
early as 1737, and in 1742 Count Zinzendorf and one 
or two others made their way thither and received a 
hearty welcome from Shikellimy. The Indians there 
were rough, drunken, mischievous fellows, among 
whom, " Satan seems to have had his seat." The Six 
Nations asked the governor to send a blacksmith to 
Shamokin. One was sent by the Moravians at Beth- 
lehem, and he opened the way for a Moravian mission. 
Soon afterwards white settlers located in the valley 
below, on both sides of the river. At the outbreak of 
the French and Indian war these became exposed to 
Indian attacks, and Fort Augusta was erected at Sha- 
mokin to protect them. 

Fort Augusta was a very important place of defense 
in the French and Indian war and in the The Popuia- 
Revolution. During the former, few settlers *^°" °~^^ 
ventured beyond it, for it was then the most northern 
place of defense in the Susquehanna valley beyond 
the Blue mountains. Northumberland had its begin- 
nings in a public house put up to accommodate 
those who came to see the land in the new purchase, 
made at Fort Stanwix, 1768 (see map, p. 6). This 
was the last purchase under the Proprietaries, and 
it extended the limits of settlement beyond the forks 



72 A History of Pennsylvania 

of the Susquehanna, both along the West and the 
North branches. But the North Branch beyond Blooms- 
burg lay in the disputed territory claimed by Con- 
necticut, and was settled from the north. Fort 
McClure, near Bloomsburg, was built by the famous 
Indian fighter, Van Campen, and named after the 
first settler, James McClure, who got a patent for 
his land in 1772. The settlers at the lower end 
of the North branch viewed with jealousy the occu- 
pation of the neighboring lands of Wyoming by the 
Yankees. Dr. William Plunket, as magistrate and 
colonel, in 1775, by authority of the governor, led an 
expedition against them ; but at the Nanticoke Nar- 
rows he was met by the enemy and forced to return 
without accomplishing anything. 

Along the West Branch, the stream of population 
"The Fair-Play" flowiug uorth was much strougcr ; for 
Settlement thcrc wcrc few Ncw Englanders ahead 

to block its way. Quakers from the lower counties 
settled Pennsborough, now Muncy, named after the 
Monsey Indians, who inhabited that section of the 
valley. Fort Muncy was erected near by in 1778 ; 
in fact, from Sunbury to Lock Haven, there was a 
line of forts, and each of them became the scene of 
many a legend of border warfare. Many Germans 
and Scotch -Irish also found their way into the pine- 
clad mountains of this region. There was an un- 
certainty, for some years after the purchase of 1768, 
about its exact boundaries. The Proprietaries had 
forbidden settlement in this doubtful tract ; but their 
proclamation was not heeded. Adventurers took pos- 
session of the land and organized a local government. 
They annually elected in rotation three of their num- 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 73 

ber, whom they called "fair-play" men, to act as Judges 
in all controversies. From their decisions there was 
no appeal. Every newcomer had to apply to the "fair- 
play" men for his land. Any person resisting the 
enforcement of the "fair -play" code was placed in a 
canoe, rowed to the mouth of Lycoming creek, and 
there set adrift. The acts of this unique court were 
afterwards allowed as evidence in the established courts, 
and the hona-fide settlers between Lycoming and Pine 
creeks each got three hundred acres of land. A most 
singular coincidence occurred in the history of these 
"fair-play" men on July 4, 1776. Early in the sum- 
mer they had heard that Congress contemplated inde- 
pendence from Great Britain. Accordingly, on the 
above date, far from the sound of the Liberty Bell, 
they assembled on Pine creek, and, after some patri- 
otic discussion, passed a set of resolutions declaring 
themselves free and independent. 

Northumberland county w^as erected, in 1772, out 
of Lancaster, Cumberland, Berks, North- 

Counties Erected 

ampton and Bedford. It was reduced to 
its present size by the successive erection of Luzerne, 
Miflin, Lycoming, Centre, Columbia and Union coun- 
ties. Fort Augusta (Sunbury) was made the seat of 
justice. Lycoming county was not formed until 1795, 
eleven years after the last purchase from the Indians 
(see map, p. 89). It comprised originally all of the 
northwestern part of the State. Williamsport, named 
probably after William, a son of Michael Ross, upon 
whose land the county seat was located, was laid out 
soon after the formation of the county. It is one of 
the most beautiful towns in Pennsylvania, and is lo- 
cated in a valley of surpassing grandeur and loveliness. 



74 A History of Pennsylvania 

The Juniata valley was settled largely by Scotch - 
The Juniata Irish, who made their way from the Cumber- 
vaiiey jg^^^^j vallcy through the gaps in the Blue 

mountains. A good many Germans also located within 
its borders ; but they were not encouraged to do so. 
In 1755, the Proprietaries instructed their agents to 
induce the Scotch -Irish to settle in Cumberland county 
and the Germans in York, in order to prevent collisions 
between them. Cumberland county at that time ex- 
tended "westward of the Susquehanna, and northward 
and westward of the county of York." It included the 
Juniata valley, and was afterwards called "Mother 
Cumberland," because so many counties had been 
formed from it. The first settlements in the Juniata 
valley were made a decade or more before 1750. They 
were established in Sherman's valley, now Perry 
county, in Tuscarora valley, now Juniata county, and 
in Aughwick valley, now Fulton county, by pioneers 
from Carlisle and the Conococheague. But as the 
lands north of the Blue mountains had not yet been 
bought from the Indians, the latter complained ; and 
the provincial government ordered the intruders to be 
driven out and their cabins burned. To this event, 
"Burnt Cabins," a village in Fulton county, owes its 
name. Many of the squatters returned, and aroused 
animosities among the savages, that burned with un- 
quenchable fury during the war that soon broke out. 
The government, being unable to keep the intruders 
out, made the Albany purchase in 1754 (see map, p. 6). 
However, the Indians were still not satisfied. The 
purchase, contrary to their understanding, included the 
West Branch of the Susquehanna. Nevertheless, a 
land office was at once opened for the sale of lands 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 75 

in the Juniata valley. Small and scattered settle- 
ments were made around Lewistown, Huntingdon and 
Bedford. 

The first settlers about Lewistown came from the 
Conococheague by way of the Aughwick. settlement of 
They built Fort Granville, which was Juniata vaiiey 
destroyed by western Indians in 1756, who forced its 
occupants — soldiers, and some settlers with their fami- 
lies — to make a forced march to Kittanning, whence 
they never returned. The white man, however, had a 
strong Indian friend on the Juniata in the person of 
Logan, the Mingo chief. Huntingdon, long known as 
Standing Stone, was likewise settled by way of the 
Aughwick, and is located on the site of the "Stand- 
ing Stone," whose name may be regarded as a trans- 
lation of Onojutta-Haga, or the Juniata people, a 
name found on maps as early as 1659. Conrad Weiser 
mentioned "Standing Stone" as a curiosity, and John 
Harris described it as being fourteen feet high and 
six inches square and containing Indian hieroglyphics. 
The Indians venerated the "Standing Stone," and 
probably carried it with them, after the sale of the 
valley, in 1754. Jack's Narrows, below Huntingdon, 
is also a place suggestive of interesting history. It 
is named after Captain Jack Armstrong, who was a 
friend in need to the people of the Juniata valley on 
many occasion's, and a terror to the Indians. Bedford 
had its origin in the "Fort at Raystown," to which the 
settlers could flee for protection against Indian incur- 
sions. In 1755, the provincial authorities sent 300 
men out to cut a road from Fort Loudon to Bedford, 
to join Braddock's road west of the Alleghenies. It 
was completed by General Forbes in 1758, to enable 



76 A History of Pennsylvania 

him to reach Fort Duquesne. Bedford was for many 
years a military station and a stopping place for adven- 
turers between Carlisle and Fort Pitt. An interesting 
spot in what is now Blair county is the Sinking 
Spring valley. It contained lead mines, which were 
probably known to the French as early as 1750. The 
Indians of this region were always supplied with an 
abundance of lead, but where they obtained it 
was long a secret. In the Revolution, some of the 
bullets fired at the Redcoats were made from the 
Sinking Spring lead. 

After Braddock's defeat, the Indians fell with 
Indian Rav- mercilcss f ury upon the infant settlements 
ages in the in the Juuiata valley, and although the 
a ey ^^Qg^^y. ^f -j^y^g (gg^ map, p. 6) had re- 
moved the objections to the purchase of 1754, yet 
savage vengeance reveled in blood till 1764. Carlisle, 
Shippensburg and Chambersburg were frequently 
crowded with settlers from the Juniata valley, who 
had fled with their families, flocks, and furniture to 
escape the tomahawk and the firebrand. Crops were 
harvested under the protection of the militia. On one 
occasion, an entire school in Franklin county — Master 
Brown and his ten pupils — were murdered while at 
their books. It was not until Colonel Bouquet had 
driven the western Indians beyond the Ohio, and made 
them sue for peace (see p. 137), that the settlers of the 
Juniata valley could plow their fields, gather their 
harvests, and eat their bread, without fear of the 
scalping -knife. From that time until the Revolution, 
the population grew uninterruptedly. Many Germans 
from Lancaster count\^ and from Maryland were now 
attracted by the richness of the limestone valleys. 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 11 

But duriug the Revolution there was a return move- 
ment. British marauders, with Indian allies, caused 
many families to remove to eastern counties for safety. 
Along the southern border counties east of the 
mountains, numerous settlers were from The Maryland 
Maryland. The reason for this was that Boundary 

the Baltimores laid claim to a part of Pennsylvania 
north of the present line, and encouraged their people 
to occupy it. According to his charter, Penn's prov- 
ince was to be bounded on the south by the circum- 
ference of a circle whose center was New Castle and 
whose radius was twelve miles in length, to be drawn 
from north to west till it reached "the beginning of 
the fortieth degree." From this point of contact, the 
boundary line was to extend directly westward five 
degrees of longitude. Lord Baltimore's charter made 
the northern boundary of Maryland extend west from 
that part of Delaware bay "which lieth under the 
fortieth degree of latitude." The Baltimores contended 
that the words, "lieth under," were to be taken liter- 
ally, as if a huge figure 40 lay over sixty geographical 
miles ; that their grant extended over the land between 
the 39th and 40th parallels. The Penns held that the 
words, "beginning of the fortieth degree," in their 
charter, likewise had reference to the entire space 
between the 39th and 40th parallels ; that the 40th 
degree began at the 39th, just as the first degree may 
be said to begin at the equator. The width of a 
degree, therefore, was in dispute, on account of the 
unfortunate expressions in the two charters. Lord 
Baltimore, by virtue of his charter, also laid claim to 
the whole peninsula between the Chesapeake bay and 
the Atlantic ocean north of a line drawn across from 



78 A History of Pennsylvania 

Watkins' Point. But the phrase, ^^hactenus incultas" — 
meaning "hitherto uncultivated" — excluded Delaware, 
because it had been cultivated by the Swedes and 
Dutch. However, as there were no exact boundaries, 
the Marylanders were continually encroaching upon 
"the three lower counties" (Delaware), as well as on 
the southern border of Pennsylvania. 

The dispute dragged its weary length through more 
, . than eighty years. Three English sove- 

Years of Dispute & ./ .; t, 

reigns had to do with the vexatious 
question. The Proprietors had a few interviews in 
America, but parted as secret enemies, especially after 
they had discovered that the 40th parallel did not pass 
through New Castle, as had been supposed, but much 
farther north. With Lord Baltimore it was territory; 
with William Penn it was water frontage on Chesa- 
peake bay. The latter once offered to buy sufficient 
territory of Baltimore to get a port on the bay, but 
met with a refusal. The claims were asserted with 
violence and occasional bloodshed. Settlers refused 
to pay taxes, because they did not know to whom to 
pay them. 

These conflicts occurred chiefly in "the three lower 
Scene of couutics " and in York county, then Lan- 
the Conflict caster. In 1730, Lord Baltimore sent a bold 
but pliant adventurer, named Thomas Cresap, to settle 
in the Conejohela valley, where a number of others 
had previously located under Maryland grants. Com- 
missioned as a justice of the peace, Cresap came to 
Wright's ferry and began to build boats and erect a 
house. He came in conflict with Pennsylvanians across 
the river, and even sent one to the Annapolis jail. He 
also attacked John Wright, the foremost Quaker in 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 79 

Lancaster county, while the latter was reaping grain 
on the west side of the Susquehanna. Not being able 
to cope with Wright, Cresap had the governor of 
Maryland send the militia to his assistance ; but the 
Quaker farmer and his Scotch -Irish neighbors were 
more than a match for the Marylanders. Nevertheless, 
Cresap was a disturbing element for some time. Finally, 
in 1736, the sheriff of Lancaster county captured the 
disturber of the peace by firing his house. He was taken 
to Philadelphia in triumph and lodged in jail. Maryland 
then sent an armed force of three hundred men into 
the Susquehanna valley. After more bloodshed, these 
were driven back, and all efforts to colonize that 
part of Pennsylvania with Marylanders were abandoned 
in 1738. 

Soon after these quarrels in York county had begun, 
mutual agreements were made, in 1732, to settlement 
settle the boundaries as follows (see any Proposed 
map of the Middle States) : That a semicircle should 
be drawn at twelve miles from New Castle, obedient 
to the charter of Pennsylvania ; that a line should 
be run from Cape Henlopen directly west to the exact 
center of the peninsula, and a perpendicular be drawn 
northward from the western end of said line till it 
touched the extreme point of the circumference, thus 
making a tangent; that from this poiut again a line 
be traced due north till it reached a point fifteen 
statute miles south of the most southerly point of 
Philadelphia ; that, starting at the northern end of 
this line, another be drawn directly west five degrees, 
the western limit of Pennsylvania. As the western 
lands were then unsettled, it was agreed to run the 
last-named line only twenty -five miles beyond the 



80 A History of Pennsylvania 

Susquehanna at that time. When everything was in 
readiness, a dispute arose as to the length of the cir- 
cumference, and the matter hung fire till 1739, when 
what is known as the "temporary line" was run 
westward of the Susquehanna as far as the Kitta- 
tinny hills. The dispute then got into the Court of 
Chancery, and was not decided until 1750, when the 
Lord Chancellor ordered the agreement of 1732 to be 
carried out. The commissioners met and agreed to 
make the court house at New Castle the center of the 
circle. But Maryland insisted on a surface measure- 
ment of the radius, instead of an astronomical and 
geometrical measurement. The Penns would not agree 
to this, and the work was once more put off. 

Finally, in 1761, after Chancery had decided in 
Mason and favor of Sb horizoutal measurement, two 
Dixon's Line expcrt English surveyors, Charles Mason 
and Jeremiah Dixon, were appointed to run the lines. 
It took them several years to draw the circle, fix the 
tangent, and locate the beginning of the southern 
boundary of Pennsylvania. This boundary, known 
as Mason and Dixon's line, was extended westward 
in latitude 39° 44', for a distance of 230 miles, in 
the year 1767. At intervals of five miles, the survey- 
ors placed stones marked on the north with the arms 
of Thomas and Richard Penn, and on the south with 
the arms of Lord Baltimore. Smaller stones were 
placed at the end of every mile. Where transporta- 
tion was no longer possible — beyond the foot of Side- 
ling hill to the summit of the AUeghenies — heaps of 
stones marked the line ; and thence to the end, posts 
surrounded with stones and earth. The stones used 
as far as Sideling hill were imported from England. 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 81 

The Indians being feared, the remainder of the southern 
boundary of the State was run by other surveyors, in 
1782. Mason and Dixon returned to England, but their 
names became household words in America. Mason 
and Dixon's line became famous as the division be- 
tween the free States and the slave States. The little 
triangular piece of land between the tangent and the 
semicircle, extending down from the eastern terminus 
of Mason and Dixon's line, known as the "flat iron," 
was recently transferred by Pennsylvania to Delaware ; 
but the transaction has not yet been completed by 
Delaware and Congress. 

Virginia, by virtue of her "sea to sea" charter, made 
an indefinite claim to all lands west and western 
northwest of her coast line. She therefore Pennsylvania 
held that the region about the forks of the Ohio 
belonged to her. Accordingly, in 1749, the Ohio Land 
Company, most of whose members were Virginians, 
two of them being brothers of General Washington, 
secured from George II a grant of half a million acres 
on the branches of the Ohio. Its object was to form 
a barrier against the French, and to establish trade 
with the Indians. Under its auspices, Christopher Gist, 
afterwards the companion of Washington on his journey 
to Fort Le Bceuf , explored the country. With eleven 
other families, he settled within the present limits of 
Fayette county. To check the encroachments of the 
French, a fort was begun in 1754, on the site of 
Pittsburg ; but the enemy captured the Virginians while 
engaged in its erection, finished it, and named it Fort 
Duquesne. In the year following its capture by General 
Forbes (seep.l33)it was rebuilt, and named Fort Pitt, 
in honor of Pitt, the distinguished English statesman. 



82 A History of Pennsylvania 

Before 1758, the western part of Pennsylvania could 
Forbes' Road be approaclied from the east, only by the 
and Pittsburg pQute of the Junlata and the Kiskiminitas. 
In that year, Forbes finished as far as the Loyalhanna 
the road previously begun from Fort Loudon by way 
of Bedford. This opened the way for numerous set- 
tlers from the eastern counties, notably the Scotch- 
Irish. They located in the Ligonier valley, at Hannas- 
town, and about the forks of the Ohio. With settlers 
from Maryland and Virginia, they possessed the land 
in comparative quiet till Pontiac's war. Pittsburg was 
begun in 1760, and the next year had 104 houses, 
sheltering 332 persons. But when Pontiac's conspi- 
racy had been hatched, the infant town was cut off 
from all communication ; and had it not been for 
Colonel Bouquet's victory over the savages at Bushy 
run, in 1764 (see p. 136), it might have been wiped out 
of existence. He forced the Indians to withdi-aw from 
western Pennsylvania and retire beyond the Ohio. 
Colonel John Campbell, in 1765, laid out forty 
squares ; but the town was a poor affair then. Nor 
did it make much progress until after the Kevolution. 
The "proclamation line," by which England, after the 
French and Indian war, forbade the colonists to settle 
west of the headwaters of the rivers in the Atlantic 
basin, interfered with the 'growth of Pittsburg and 
the country around it. The settlers of Redstone creek 
and Cheat river were at one time driven away in pur- 
suance of the proclamation. A law was passed by the 
Assembly imposing the death penalty, without benefit 
of clergy, for trespassing upon lands not purchased 
from the Indians. But nothing daunted the trespassers; 
they returned again and again. To avoid these recur- 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 83 

ring difficulties, the purchase at Fort Stanwix was made 
(see map, p. 6). It opened the country around the 
Ohio for legitimate settlement. A land office was 
opened, and a rapid increase of population followed. 
In 1769, the Penns surveyed a manor of 5,000 acres at 
Pittsburg and in the country east of it and south of 
the Monongahela. But the Manor of Pittsburg — as 
it was called — was not laid out into lots as long as 
Virginia claimed the land. 

A new difficulty arose just before the Revolution. 
In 1773 the county of Westmoreland, in- 

1 T 11 « ii 1 i . n Collisions 

eluding all of the southwestern portion of 
the province west of Laurel Hill, was formed. Hannas- 
town, on the old Forbes road, near the present site of 
Greensburg, was made the county seat. It was the 
first place in the Mississippi valley where justice was 
administered by virtue of judicial authority. It was 
the only collection of houses — about thirty in number — 
worthy the name of town between Bedford and Pitts- 
burg. When Virginia saw that Pennsylvania was ex- 
tending jurisdiction over the forks of the Ohio, she 
renewed her claims to that country. Before the land 
had been purchased from the Indians, the settlers 
were so few that no collisions occurred. Now it was 
otherwise. Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, 
asserted that Pittsburg was outside of the limits of 
Pennsylvania. He placed in command Dr. John Con- 
nelly, a Pennsylvanian, but a willing tool, who took 
possession of Fort Pitt and changed its name to Fort 
Dunmore. Connelly defied the Pennsylvania magis- 
trates and other officers of the State, and commanded 
the people of Westmoreland county to recognize the 
authority of Lord Dunmore. Arthur St. Clair, a Penn- 



84 



A History of Pennsylvania 




House of Arthur St. Clair. 



sylvania magistrate, had Connelly arrested and bound 
over to keep the peace. This the Doctor did not do. 
He got a commission from Virginia to act as justice of 

the peace in Augusta 
county, which extended 
over the disputed ter- 
ritory in Pennsylvania. 
He then appeared at 
Hannastown with 150 
men, all armed and 
with colors flying, 
placed sentinels at the 
door of the court house, 
and kept the magistrates from entering. Lord Dun- 
more now established a court at Fort Pitt, and de- 
manded obedience to its decrees. 

The matter next got into Congress, where such men 
as Jefferson and Henry, of Virginia, and 
Franklin, of Pennsylvania, advised that 
the troops be withdrawn. Though this was not done 
at once, yet the Revolution brought about a more 
brotherly feeling ; and by 1779 the Virginians and 
Pennsylvanians agreed to a settlement. A com- 
mission, on which served the celebrated astronomer, 
Rittenhouse, was appointed to run the boundary 
by extending Mason and Dixon's line to its western 
limit of five degrees. There a meridian was 
dra^^Ti as far north as the Ohio. Wide vistas were 
cut through the forests over the high hills, and trees 
were deadened or felled in the valleys. Stones were 
set up at irregular intervals and marked on the east 
side with the letter P, and on the west side with the 
letter V. Ceding her western lands north of the Ohio to 



The Settlement 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 85 



Congress in 1784, Virginia had no further interest 
in the boundary, and next year Pennsylvania alone 
extended the meridian to Lake Erie. 

After the Revolution, affairs in western Pennsylvania 
were generally peaceful. The old State road southwestern 
was opened along the trail of Forbes, and Pennsylvania 
numerous villages sprang up along its way. Greens- 
burg was founded on the site of a blockhouse of the 
Revolution. Hannastown had been wiped off the map 
of Westmoreland county, July 13, 1782, by one of 
the most cruel Indian attacks on record. The Indians, 
under the famous Seneca chief, Kyashuta, arrived from 
across the Allegheny river early in the morning, 
applied the torch to the historic village, and carried 
some of its defenceless inhabitants into captivity. 
Washington county, which at first included Greene, 
was cut off from Westmoreland soon after Virginia's 
claim had been abandoned. ^-^i^. 

Its original southern popu- 
lation had gained many ac- 
cessions from Pennsylvania — 
Scotch -Irish and Germans. 
Dunkard creek, in Greene 
county, bears evidence of a 
German sect that found its 
way out there from the east- 
ern counties. Fayette county 
was erected soon after Wash- 
ington, and it now has within 
its borders the historic spots 
of Great Meadows, Fort Necessity, and Braddock's 
grave. Allegheny, which at first included all the terri- 
tory north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers, 




Braddock's Grave. 



86 A History of Pennsylvania 

was also formed from the mother county of southwestern 
Pennsylvania — Westmoreland. The town lots in the 
Manor of Pittsburg now had a ready sale. Previous to 
this time, there were few buildings outside the fort, 
except those occupied by Indian traders and soldiers' 
families. In 1790 the town contained 200 houses, 2,000 
people, one newspaper, and a few manufacturing 
estTablishments. But a movement of population then 
began in the United States that made it grow more 
rapidly. New Englanders and Virginians, as well as 
Pennsylvanians, flocked into the Ohio valley because 
the Northwest Territory had been organized and 
opened for settlement. Pittsburg became a place 
of trade with these new and ever -increasing settle- 
ments and its future greatness was assured. 

The northwestern part of the State, known as the 
The Indians "Indian country" after the French war, 
Disappear from coustitutcd the purchasc of 1784 (see 
Pennsylvania ^^^^ ^ gj ^ ^^^ which the Indian title to 
the last foot of soil in Pennsj^lvania was extin- 
guished. However, the Indians continued to infest 
this section until Wayne's treaty at Ft. Greenville, 
1795. This put an end to their hostility, and only 
one chief exercised dominion thereafter within the 
State. His reservation remains intact today. Gyant- 
wochia, "the cornplanter," became the friend of the 
settlers after the Revolution, and the State gave him 
permission to select 1,500 acres of land for himself and 
his descendants. He chose 640 acres on the west 
branch of the Allegheny, about fifteen miles above 
Warren, together with two large islands adjoining. 
There he located permanently with his family, about 
1791 ; and there his desendants live at the present 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 87 

day — the last remnant of the Red Man in Pennsyl- 
vania. They farm their land and have a school, which 
is supported by the State. 

The "Indian country" was entered by the white 
settlers by way of the west branch of the Northwestern 
Allegheny and the border of New York. Pennsylvania 
Erie, the oldest and most historic place in it, can boast 
of the footprints of La Salle, and of the fort of 
Presque Isle, the first of a number of posts established 
by the French to make good 
their "leaden" claims to the 
Ohio valley (see p. 124) . At 
Ft. Le BcBuf , Washington, at 
the age of 21, performed his 
first public service. These 
points are in the triangle 
along the shore of Lake 
Erie. The northern boun- 

-, ji jj\ CO. 1. l.^ Blockhouse at Erie. 

dary of the State was the 

subject of mild dispute between the Penns and New 
York for nearly fifty years, on account of the vague 
knowledge of the 42d degree. The charter stated 
that Pennsylvania should be bounded on the north by 
the beginning of the 43d degree, which was accepted 
to mean the 42d degree. Occasionally grants of land 
within territory claimed by the Penns were made by 
the governor of New York. To avoid such mistakes, 
a stone, from which the northern boundary was to be 
determined, was erected in 1775 on an island in the 
Delaware river. From this point the northern boun- 
dary was run in 1787; but it terminated a few miles 
south of Lake Erie, greatly to the dissatisfaction of 
Pennsylvania. The line was finally fixed at 42°, and 




88 A History of Pennsylvania 

was ratified by both States in 1789. It terminated in 
Lake Erie four miles east of where the western boun- 
dary terminated, thus giving Pennsylvania only four 
miles of water frontage. The triangle cut off was 
included in the cessions made by New York and Massa- 
chusetts to the United States. In 1792, Pennsyl- 
vania bought it from the Federal government for the 
sum of $151,640.50. Three years later, Erie was laid 
out on Presque Isle; and within a short time afterward 
the prince, Louis Philippe, heir to the throne which 
once had jurisdiction of the soil where Erie stands, 
was entertained in the town. 

Kittanning, another place familiar in the annals of 
northwestern Pennsylvania, was originally 

Kittanning . "^ i t t 

an Indian village. It marked the western 
terminus of the Indian path across the mountains 
from Standing Stone and other points in the Juniata 
valley. It was destroyed in 1756 by Colonel Arm- 
strong (seep. 131), after whom the county is named. 
The country around it afterwards became the scene 
of many of Captain Samuel Brady's encounters with 
the Indians. 

A noted point on the Kittanning path was Cherry 
Tree, at the present juncture of Cambria, Clearfield, 
and Indiana counties. It was the head of canoe navi- 
gation on the Susquehanna. The Indians would take 
their canoes out of the stream at Cherry Tree and 
strike the trail through northern Indiana to Kittan- 
ning. It also obtained celebrity as the northern 
boundary of the Stanwix purchase, and is frequently 
referred to in old land warrants. A monument has 
been erected at the place to commemorate its historic 
associations. 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 89 



In the Ohio valley, west of Pittsburg, the Moravian 
missionaries were the first white men to lay The 
the foundations of settlement. Zeisberger °^*° ^^"^^ 
and Senseman established a mission, called Friedenstadt, 
at the junction of the Shenango and Mahoning, in 
Lawrence county. These pious men had followed 
their Indian wards all the way from Wyalusing on the 
Susquehanna, sojourning for awhile among the Monseys 
in Forest county. Neshannock, Mahoning, and other 
names of streams in this locality were brought by the 
Indians from the Delaware valley, where they had 
known streams of the same name. 

After the victory of Wayne, the "Indian country" 
rapidly became the white man's country. Eight New 
In 1800, "the great new county act" was countie 

passed in the Legislature, by which Beaver, Butler, 




County Map in 1800. 

Mercer, Crawford, Erie, Warren, Venango and Arm- 
strong counties were created. Pennsylvania was now 



90 A History of Pennsylvania 

practically settled and conveniently organized under 
thirty -five county governments. 

In 1790 the population of Pennsylvania was 434,373. 
Growth of The increase from that year to 1800 was 39 
Population pgj, cent, and for each decade thereafter to 
1890, respectively, as follows : 34 per cent, 29 per 
cent, 29 per cent, 28 per cent, 34 per cent, 25 per 
cent, 21 per cent, 22 per cent, 23 per cent. Owing to 
the French and Indian war, the Revolution, and the 
wars in Europe after the Revolution, foreign immi- 
gration did not add much to the population of any 
of the States from 1750 to 1820. Hence the pioneers 
west of the AUeghenies during those years were mainly 
of the native stock. However, the movement across the 
mountains did not amount to much until the decade 
of financial distress after the Revolution. Then 
the people on the seaboard flocked westward in 
such numbers as to threaten the depopulation of the 
Atlantic States. But the French Revolution checked 
this movement ; for the Americans enjoyed good times 
then, furnishing supplies of every sort to the nations 
at war, and carrying them in their own ships, manned 
by their own sailors. In Pennsylvania, the Dela- 
ware and Susquehanna valleys were favored by their 
easy access to the sea. The State was also the 
highway to the west for all New Englanders, and 
Pittsburg was the gateway. A part of the great per- 
centage of increase was due to the emigrant business 
that sprang up along the route. 

From 1800 to 1820, the percentage of increase fell 
From considerably. There was a loss of popula- 
1800 to 1820 i^JQj^ then, due to the opening of the North- 
west Territory for settlement on a credit system, and 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 91 

to the hard times caused by the incidents of the War 
of 1812. Both conditions sent endless processions of 
wagons and foot parties to Ohio and Indiana. Pennsyl- 
vania, lying next to this land of promise, would natu- 
rally lose heavily in population. Nevertheless, conditions 
had arisen during these years that made for an in- 
crease. The Embargo and Non-Intercourse acts made it 
necessary for the States to engage in manufacturing. 
Pennsylvania, with her iron and coal, began to build 
furnaces and operate mines. Philadelphia and Pitts- 
burg became centers for the manufacture of all kinds 
of articles needed by the people of the United States. 
As the native Americans were not skilled in manu- 
facturing, many Europeans came here to help launch 
the new industries. After the Napoleonic wars had 
ceased, armies were disbanded, enormous taxes were 
laid, and a general depression in trade and agriculture 
ensued in Europe. This caused a great influx of 
immigrants between 1815 and 1820, particularly from 
Great Britian and Ireland. It was at this time that 
the English, Welsh, Scotch, and Irish, from whom the 
coal miners were recruited for so many years, began 
to come to Pennsylvania. So many immigrants from 
Ireland landed in Philadelphia that the Society of 
United Irishmen was formed to secure employment 
for such as wanted to remain in eastern Pennsylvania, 
and to furnish transportation to those who wanted 
to go westward. 

From 1820 to 1840, internal improvements ' and the 
tariff for protection were inaugurated by Lumbering 
the United States. This was the era of and Mining 
canal building, steamboat construction, and Population 
grading of horse -power railroads. Pennsylvania now 



92 A History of Pennsylvania 

became inhabited by the lumberman. Wood -choppers, 
sawyers, and raftsmen were added to the population. 
Lock Haven and Williamsport became known as 
lumbering towns in this period. Lock Haven received 
its name in 1833 from two locks in the canal passing 
through it, and a haven in the river. "Big Water 
Mill," the first saw mill at Williamsport, was erected 
in 1839. The protective tariff acts of 1824 and 1828 
stimulated manufacturing and created an increased 
demand for coal and iron. Many more English, 
Welsh, Scotch, and Irish came to work in the mines 
and furnaces, especially in the anthracite regions, 
which had been made accessible by means of canals. 
The increase of population in Pottsville, in the year 
1830, was spoken of in the Miners'' Journal as "almost 
unprecedented." Mauch Chunk and the county of 
Carbon became justly famous through the "black 
diamond" of the Lehigh valley. Wilkes -Barre became 
known as the center of the Wyoming coal fields. 
Scranton, now the fourth city in Pennsylvania, sprang, 
in 1840, from an abandoned village of five houses. It 
bore for some time the name of Lackawanna Iron 
Works, 

From 1840 to 1850, the population in Pennsyl- 
vania increased much more rapidly than it 

Railroads Built ^ '' 

had m any decade since 1800. Foreign 
immigration to the United States in 1820 amounted to 
8,000 ; this number increased gradually till 1842, 
when it took a sudden leap, and reached the grand 
total of 105,000. In 1846, when the potato famine 
raged in Ireland, the number was 155,000. As this 
was the era of railroad building, Pennsylvania, with 
its great trunk line to build over the mountains 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 93 

and into the coal regions, absorbed an unusually large 
number, especially of the Irish. The iron and lumber 
districts, too, added great numbers to their population, 
both foreigners and Americans, on account of the 
demand for iron and lumber. 

From 1850 to 1860, the percentage of increase fell 
from 34 to 25. Foreign immigrants now 
had quick and easy access to the West 
by means of railroads, and they no longer settled in 
the Atlantic States. For the same reason many people 
in the East sold out and went West; while the panic 
of 1857 forced still others to sell out and make a 
new start in life on the prairies of the Mississippi 
valley. 

Between 1860 and 1880, there was another great 
decline in the percentage of increase. This The war 

was due to the war for the Union in the *"** **»* p*"'<= 
sixties and the business stagnation in the seventies. 
The former kept the people from coming into the 
State, while the latter drove them out of it. However, 
during these years, the petroleum industry sprang up 
in the Allegheny valley. Commencing with Titus ville 
in 1859, an indescribable activity and speculation 
spread over northwestern Pennsylvania. Adventurers 
flocked thither from all parts of the country. What 
is now known as the "oil region" was transformed 
from an almost unbroken forest into camps and towns 
in a few short years. Pithole city, now the site of 
a farm, was, in 1865, next to Philadelphia, the largest 
post office in the State. Titusville, Oil City, Franklin, 
Tidioute, Bradford, Parker City, and Corry are all 
towns wholly or mostly made since the sixties by 
the petroleum industry. 



94 



A History of Pennsylvania 



Since 1880, Pennsylvania has received thousands of 
immi rants immigrants from southern Europe — Poles, 
from Southern Lithuanians, Hungarians and Italians. 
Europe Dowu to that time the growth of the 

mining population was mainly through additions from 
the English, Welsh, Scotch, Irish, and Germans, either 
by native increase or by immigration. During the 

war for the Union, miners' 
wages were high; but as soon 
as capital was set free from 
providing for the armies, large 
sums were invested in coal 
fields, and over-production was 
the consequence. Then wages 
were reduced. To resist the 
operators in the reduction of 
wages, the miners organized in 
1868 and 1869, and during the 
next decade resorted to fre- 
quent strikes, either for higher 
wages or shorter hours. Un- 
able to work for lower wages on account of their improved 
condition of life, the nationalities that had worked 
in the coal mines for sixty years gave their places to 
a class of people whose mode of living is much inferior. 
Many of these were at first brought to America under 
contract to work for a specified amount ; but the 
alien contract -labor law of 1885 prohibited such a pro- 
cedure. Nevertheless the Poles, Lithuanians, Hungarians 
and Italians came into Pennsylvania, and they are 
found here in large numbers, not alone in the coal 
fields, but at all sorts of cheap labor in various sections 
of the State. The census of 1890 showed the number 




A Native Miner's Home. 



Population and Adjustment of Boundaries 95 



of these nationalities in the five anthracite counties 
to have been 28,216, and in 1897 the number in the 
same region was estimated at 50,000. 

There was a large increase in urban population in 
the State outside of Philadelphia from 1880 
to 1890 ; but the rural population was less in 
some sections, and in many others only slightly greater. 
While Philadelphia and the State increased only 23 per 
cent, Pittsburg increased 52 per cent, and the following 
places more than 100 per cent: Johnstown, McKeesport, 



After 1880 




Pittsburg and Allegheny. 

Pottstown, South Bethlehem, Nanticoke, Steelton, But- 
ler, Braddock, Mount Carmel, Homestead, Du Bois, 
Milton, Wilkinsburg, and Tarentum. 

BOOKS FOR READING AND CONSULTATION 

Shepherd's Proprietary Government in Pennsylvania, Part I ; 
Fisher's Making of Pennsylvania, Chs. x and xi; Craig's Olden 
Time, Vol. I, pp. 529-552 (Mason and Dixon's Line) ; Miner's 
History of Wyoming, passim; McGinness' History of the West 
Branch Valley, Vol. I, passim; Jones' History of the Juniata 
Valley, passim; Albert's History of Westmoreland County, Chs. 
i-xxxix; Craig's History of Pittsburg, passim; Warner & Co.'s 
History of Allegheny County, Part 1, Chs. i-vii. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT 

The English colonial governments were of three 
Forms of kinds : first, provincial, under which the 

Colonial Crown established the government, ap- 

Government p^i^ted the govcmors, and instructed 
them how to rule ; secondly, proprietary, according 
to which the Crown granted a tract of land to 
some individual, called the proprietary, and em- 
powered him to establish the government, appoint the 
governors, and instruct them how to rule ; thirdly, 
charter, through which the Crown gave the colonists 
the power to organize a government, elect the governor, 
and hold him responsible for his acts. All the colonies 
had a legislature elected by the people, but the laws 
passed could be vetoed by the governor ; or, if 
approved by him, could be vetoed by the Crown 
within a period of a few years. The laws were to 
conform as nearly as possible with the laws of Eng- 
land. The judges were appointed by the governors. 

Pennsylvania's government was of the proprietary 
Pennsylvania's form. Tliis form had its origin in the feudal 

Form system. Pennsylvania was a huge fief 
bestowed on William Penn by the Crown, granting him 
the land and giving him jurisdiction, both civil and 
military. Theoretically, the proprietary and his suc- 
cessors were in possession of many of the ancient 

(96) 



The Government of Pennsylvania 97 

rights of a count palatine ; but .practically, they were 
the executors of a democracy. 

The preamble of Penn's charter stated his desire 
to enlarge the British empire, to promote provisions 
its trade and commerce, and to educate °* *^® charter 
the Indians in the principles of Christianity. Then 
followed his request for territory in which to form 
a colony, and for powers of government. To this 
end the Proprietary was given power to make and 
publish laws approved by a majority of the freemen, 
or of their representatives. In case anything should 
have to be remedied before the first Assembly could 
meet, the Proprietary alone had power to issue ordi- 
nances. To insure loyalty, the charter provided that 
neither the Proprietary nor the freemen should cor- 
respond with any power at war with England, nor 
should they offend any power at peace with England. 
Duplicates of all laws should be sent to the Privy 
Council in England within five years after their en- 
actment ; and if not annulled within six months after 
their reception, they were to remain in force. An 
agent of the province should reside in London to 
answer for offenses against England on the part of 
the Proprietary, and to render satisfaction therefor. 
Until such satisfaction was rendered the Crown might 
seize the government. 

The charter next provided for the establishment of 
courts and the appointment of judges by the Further 
Proprietary; but the Crown reserved the right Provisions 
to hear appeals. Privileges of commerce and trans- 
portation, and the assessment and collection of customs 
were granted to the Proprietary and the inhabitants 
of the province. Parliament could levy a tax on 



98 A History of Pennsylvania 

the province without the consent of the "Proprietary 
or chief governor and assembly." The Proprietary 
could erect counties and townships and incorporate 
boroughs and cities ; and, as captain- general, he could 
form a militia and wage war, even beyond the limits 
of his province. In the event of any misunderstanding 
about the charter, any word or clause was to be 
interpreted most favorably to the Proprietary. 

Pursuant to the charter, what is known as the 
The Frame of " Frame of Govcmment " was drawn up 
Government j^y William Pcuu in England. It was 
the constitution under which the province of Penn- 
sylvania was organized. He drew it up before the 
first company of colonists under Markham, the 
Deputy- Governor, sailed for America. This small 
party, who were to take possession of Penn's grant 
of land and pre|)are for his own coming the next 
year, signed the Frame of Government before depart- 
ing, and before Penn himself signed it. 

The spirit of Penn's Frame of Government was 
thoroughly republican. "I will put the 
power with the people," he said. In the 
preface are these words : 

" I know some say, ^ Let us have good laws, and no matter about 
the men that execute them.' But let them consider that, though 
good laws do well, good men do better; for good laws want [be 
in need of] good men; but good men will never want good laws 
nor suffer [allow] ill ones." 

At another place are found those words— they have 
been inscribed on the walls of the corridor in Inde- 
pendence Hall, side by side with the Declaration of 
Independence : 

"Any government is free to the people under it, whatever be 



The Government of Pennsylvania 



99 



the form, where the laws rule, and the people are a party to those 
laws; and more than this is tyranny, oligarchy and confusion." 

In speaking of the end of all government, Penn 
once made use of these words : 

"To support power in reverence with the people, and to secure 
the people from the abuse of power ; that they may be free by 
their just obedience, and the magistrates honorable for their just 
administration ; for liberty without obedience is confusion, and 
obedience without liberty is slavery. To carry this evenness is 
partly owing to the constitution, and partly to the magistracy ; 
where either of these fail, government will be subject to convul- 
sion ; but where both are wanting, it must be totally subverted ; 
then where both meet, the government is like to endure. Which 
I humbly pray and hope God will please to make the lot of 
Pennsylvania." 

The highest purpose of government, according to 
Penn's "Frame," is to secure to every person the "free 
enjoyment of his religious opinions and worship, so 
long as it does not extend to licentiousness or the 




Pennsylvania's Coat of Arms. 



Originally engraved by Caleb Lownes, 1778. 



100 A History of Pennsylvania 

destruction of others ; that is, to speak loosely or 
profanely of God, Christ, and the scriptures or religion, 
or to commit any moral evil or injury against others" 
Summing up the principles of government as expressed 
by Penn, we find that they are about all included 
in the words — "Virtue, Liberty and Independence" — 
written on Pennsylvania's coat of arms. 

In 1682, Penn had the Frame of Government pub- 
The Frame Hshcd ; but it was uot identical with the 
Published q^q signed by the colonists who had gone 
to Pennsylvania under Markham. It consisted of 
twenty -four articles and forty laws. The govern- 
ment was vested in the Governor and freemen 
of the province. The freemen were to elect a 
Provincial Council and a General Assembly. The 
former was to consist of seventy -two members, to 
serve for three years ; the latter, of all the freemen 
the first year, when the Frame was to be accepted, 
and of two hundred of them the next year — the num- 
ber to be increased as the population increased, but 
not to_ exceed five hundred. The Governor, or his 
deputy, was to be the perpetual president of the 
Provincial Council, and was to have a treble vote. 

The duty of the Provincial Council was (a) to 
The Provincial Originate bills, which were to be published 
Council thirty days before the Assembly met — a 

provision based on a principle of the referendum of 
modern times ; (6) to see that the laws were exe- 
cuted ; (c) to take care of the peace and safety of 
the province ; (d) to settle the location of ports, 
cities, market towns, roads, and other public places ; 
(e) to inspect the public treasury; (/) to erect courts 
of justice ; (g) to institute schools ; (h) to reward 



The Government of Pennsylvania 101 

authors of useful discoveries ; and (i) to summon and 
dissolve the General Assembly. 

The General Assembly had no power to legislate 
and no privilege to debate. The bills The General 
originated and passed by the Council were Assembly 

presented to the Assembly for approval or rejection 
with a plain "Yes" or "No." It could name persons 
for sheriffs and justices of the peace for the Governor 
to select from, being obliged to name twice as many 
as were to be appointed. 

The Frame of Government could not be amended 
without the consent of the Proprietary, 

. , . Amendment 

or his heirs or assigns, and six -sevenths 

of the freemen in both the Council and Assembly. 

There was not much done in the way of estab- 
lishing a government by Deputy -Governor 
Markham. He administered the affairs 
of the infant colony at Upland according to instruc- 
tions. But when Penn himself had arrived, he called 
the first General Assembly to meet at Upland, Decem- 
ber 6th next. No Council having yet been chosen, 
the Assembly met alone, with Dr. Nicholas More as 
chairman. Penn presented the "Laws agreed upon 
in England," and ninety others. Sixty -one of the 
latter were embodied in the "great law or body of 
laws of the province of Pennsylvania." Though more 
than two hundred years have passed since the " Great 
Law " was enacted at Chester, it still remains, modi- 
fied to some extent, but not greatly, as a part of the 
government of our Commonwealth. It allowed free- 
dom of worship to all who acknowledged one God. 
All members of the government, as well as the voters, 
had to be qualified in the belief that Jesus Christ is 



102 A History of Pennsylvania 

the son of God and the Saviour of the world. Swear- 
ing, cursing, drunkenness, health -drinking, card- play- 
ing, scolding, and lying were all prohibited in the 
Great Law. 

In February, 1683, Penn ordered an election for 
The Government thc mcmbers of the Proviucial Council, 
in Philadelphia ^iid dircctcd that when the Council should 
meet at Philadelphia, all the freemen should meet in 
General Assembly. The object of the session was to 
consider, amend, and accept the Frame of Govern- 
ment. Aside from a number of other changes, the 
following ones were made : The Council was made to 
consist of not less than eighteen members, three from 
each county, nor more than seventy -two ; the Assembly, 
of not less than thirty -six, six from each county, 
nor more than two hundred. The treble vote of the 
Governor was abolished and the veto power granted 
instead ; but he could perform no public act without 
the consent and advice of the Council, except that 
Penn had during his lifetime the sole power of 
appointing officers. Out of fifteen fundamental laws 
made at this session, nine had been suggested to 
Penn by his friend, Benjamin Furly, of Holland, 
the promoter of the first German immigration to Penn- 
sylvania. Furly had greatly preferred the draft signed 
by Markham's colonists. Said he to Penn: "I prefer 
thy first draft to the last, as being the most equal, 
most fair, and most agreeing with the just, wise, 
and prudent institutions of our ancestors. * * * 
Indeed, I wonder who should put thee upon alter- 
ing that for this, and as much how thou couldst 
ever yield to such a thing.'' Furley had also suggested 
an anti- slavery clause. 



The Government of Pennsylvania 103 

The Assembly met only once under the new Frame 
of Government before Penn^s return to changes in 

England. Immediately after his departure, *^* Government 
signs of serious trouble between the Council and the 
Assembly appeared, owing to the greater power of 
the former in the enactment of laws. The contentions 
and misunderstandings that arose created prejudices 
against Penn himself, both here and in London. 
These were deepened by a religious quarrel, started 
in Pennsylvania by George Keith, and carried by 
him to England. The consequence was that Penn 
was suspected of disloyalty to the Crown. The gov- 
ernment of the province was taken from him, 1693, 
and given to Governor Fletcher, of New York. Penn 
was unable to ward off this blow, because he was not 
in favor with the Court of England after James II, 
his intimate friend, had been driven from the throne. 
Besides, all the colonies experienced a change in the 
policy of the British government about this time. 
A royal governor was sent to Maryland, and Massa- 
chusetts had to accept a governor appointed by the 
King. Pennsylvania was now under the direct con- 
trol of the Crown, the Frame of Government was 
disregarded, and the Assembly modeled after that of 
New York. Fortunately, this state of affairs lasted 
only about one year in Pennsylvania. The charges 
against Penn having been disproved, his government 
was restored to him and he again became Governor, 
administering affairs through Markham as Deputy. 

When Penn returned to Philadelphia, in 1699, 
he found his colonists rather indifferent a New Form 
to him. Ruling them at so great a dis- °* Government 
tance for a period of fifteen years, had caused mis- 



104 A History of Pennsylvania 

understandings. He soon learned that he must give 
them a new form of government. So the old Frame 
was abandoned and the " Charter of Privileges " given 
in its place. He signed this in 1701. The new 
document, granted in response to a demand from the 
people, provided for a General Assembly with much 
greater powers ; namely, to propose matters for legis- 
lation, to meet annually, to adjourn itself, to be judge 
of the election and qualifications of its own members, 
to redress grievances, and to impeach for misdemeanor 
in office. It also gave the people the power to elect 
some of the county officers; and contained a strong 
plea for liberty of conscience. By it, too, the three 
lower counties were to have a separate Assembly. 
The Charter of Privileges was indeed the envy of 
neighboring colonies, so republican was it in its 
nature. Philadelphia, on the same day, October 25, 
1701, became an incorporated city, with the right to 
elect its officers, which before had been appointed by 
the Governor. Through the liberality of Penn, there- 
fore, Philadelphia is the oldest incorporated city in 
the United States. 

Since the Revolution of 1688, it had been a favor- 
penn Offers to itc projcct of the Crowu to changc the 
Sell Pennsylvania proprietary govemmcnts to royal ones. 
During Penn's absence in America, a bill was intro- 
duced in Parliament to effect the change. Hence he 
hastened home. Before leaving he appointed Andrew 
Hamilton Governor, and James Logan Secretary of 
the province. On his return to England, Penn 
stopped in Parliament the bill which was to change 
the proprietorships to royal colonies. But the legal 
fees required to end this movement, the litigations 




The Government of Pennsylvania 105 

with Lord Baltimore, the dishonesty of Philip Ford, 
his steward, and the expenses of his family and his 
province, involved him financially. So he agreed, in 
1712, with Queen Anne, to sell Pennsylvania and 
Delaware for $60,000. Before the 
papers could be made out, he was 
stricken with apoplexy. After his 
death, there was much litigation over 
the will. An agreement was finally 
effected, 1731, by which the three ' 
surviving sons- of Penn by his sec- / 
ond wife, John, Thomas and Richard, ''^' 
became the Proprietors. John died James Logan. 
in 1746, Richard in 1771, when the latter' s son, 
John, together with Thomas, became sole Proprietors. 
Penn's heirs did not manage the estate so well as he 
had done. They occupied his place, but did not fill 
it. They were more interested in the revenues of the 
province than in its welfare. This, however, was 
natural ; for they were comparatively poor, and had 
heavy debts to pay; moreover, they were Englishmen, 
and not interested in Pennsylvania's government, as 
their father had been. They quarreled with the 
colonists about the taxes and rents ; and the Governors 
had numerous disputes with the General Assembly. 
On one occasion, 1765, Franklin was sent to England 
to induce the. King to take the province of Pennsyl- 
vania as his own, so dissatisfied had the colonists 
become with the proprietary governors. They pre- 
ferred to be an "appenage to the Crown rather than 
a fief of the Penns." But the wrath against the 
Stamp Act quieted the feeling against the Proprietors, 
and the movement failed. Besides, the Penns won 



106 A History of Pennsylvania 

back much of the loyalty and affection of the peo- 
ple by an amicable adjustment of disputes. 

In 1775 Pennsylvania, in common with the other 
The Council colouics, made a change in the executive 
of Safety department of its government. By order of 
the Assembly, Governor Penn, in June, was super- 
seded by the Council of Safety. Such a body of men 
exercised the executive functions in all 
the colonies until constitutions were 
adopted the next year ; and it received 
its authority generally from popular con- 
ventions, called the provincial congress. 
In Pennsylvania, however, it acted by 
authority of the Assembly. Its chairman 
was Franklin, and it consisted of twenty - 
^1-.^ ^ ^ five, afterwards thirty, men, appointed 
r^ ^ from the various counties in the province. 

Penn's Chair. 

Among the men on this committee were 
Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, John Dickinson, 
Anthony Wayne, George Ross, George Clymer, David 
Rittenhouse and Joseph Reed. It held almost daily 
sessions, and its duties were many and arduous. It 
promptly raised the troops requested by Congress, 
and constructed the Pennsylvania State Navy three 
months before Congress proposed a Continental Navy. 
It was the moving power of the province until July 
22, 1776. 

When there was no further hope that the King 
The Provincial would rcdrcss the grievances of the 
Convention coloulcs, Cougrcss, May 15, 1776, recom- 
mended the formation of state governments, that 
would, "in the opinion of the representatives of 
the people, best conduce to the happiness and 




The Government of Pennsylvania 107 

safety of their constituents in particular and America 
in general." The Assembly of Pennsylvania, being 
composed mainly of adherents to the King, paid 
no attention to this recommendation. The people 
then disregarded the Assembly, and called a provincial 
convention, composed of one hundred and eight mem- 
bers, to meet at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, June 
18. This convention approved the recommendation 
of Congress, and resolved that a constitutional con- 
vention of eight representatives from each county 
should be called to form a new government. This 
body met July 15, and chose Benjamin Franklin 
president, and George Ross vice-president. After a 
session of two months, a constitution was completed, 
September 28. It was not submitted to the people 
for ratification, but went into effect at once. 

During its session, the constitutional convention 
assumed supreme authority in the State. The oid 

It appointed a Council of Safety, to per- Assembly Dies 
form the executive duties ; it approved the Declara- 
tion of Independence, levied heavy taxes on such as 
refused to bear arms, ordered the courts to proceed 
against criminals, and appointed justices of the peace. 
The old Assembly met for the last time September 
23, to make one more feeble protest against these 
proceedings, but it soon died without a struggle- 
Then Penn's words in the preface to the Frame of 
Government,— "I will put the power with the people," 
— became a complete reality. 

Under the first constitution, the General Assembly 
consisted of only one house. Its members The First 
were elected yearly. Its acts were called constitution 
the "Acts of Assembly," a name still applied to our 



108 A History of Pennsylvania 

laws. The executive power was vested in a President, 
chosen annually by the Assembly and the Supreme 
Executive Council. The latter body was composed of 
twelve members, elected for a term of three years, 
and it was advisory to the President. Another body 





OBVERSE REVERSE 

The Seal of the State of Pennsylvania. Engraved in Paris, 1780. 

was provided for, — the Council of Censors, consisting 
of two persons from each city and county, — whose 
duty it was, at the end of every seven years, to see 
whether the constitution had been violated. A Dec- 
laration of Rights, a constitutional provision first made 
in America by Virginia in 1776, and in substance the 
same as the English Bill of Rights of 1688, was a 
sacred thing in the first constitution of Pennsylvania, 
and remains in our organic law to this day. The 
forms of township and county government remained 
as Penn instituted them. The right to vote was 
given to every resident taxpayer. 

The average life of a constitution in the United 

Life of a states has been about a third of a century. 

Constitution rpj^^ forty-fivc Statcs now in the Union 
have enforced nearly one hundred and twenty con- 



The Government of Pennsylvania 109 

stitutions in that many years. New constitutions 
become necessary to keep up with the progress of the 
times. Lord Macaulay once said that "the cause of all 
revolutions is that while nations move onward con- 
stitutions stand still." There are numerous interests 
now that did not exist in 1776 ; all these, as they 
came into prominence, needed the fostering care of 
a constitution. From 1776 to 1800, there were twenty- 
six constitutions in force among sixteen States ; hence 
ten of the original constitutions were changed in 
twenty -five years. Most of these changes were made 
to secure conformity with the Federal Constitution. 

Pennsylvania changed her first const^iution in 
1790. An upper house was created, and The consti- 
the Assembly deprived of the sole right *"*^°" °* ^^^o 
to make laws. The Supreme Executive Council was 
abolished and a single executive established, who was 
to be elected by the people. The judges of the higher 
courts were to serve during good behavior, instead of 
for seven years. The Council of Censors was discon- 
tinued and the veto power given to the Governor. 
This body, with Frederick A. Muhlenberg as president, 
had met but once, in 1783. It then got itself into 
such a snarl with the Assembly that it became very 
unpopular. A Declaration of Rights was again incor- 
porated, in 1790. Office-holders still had to believe 
in God and in a future state of rewards and punish- 
ments, but the divine inspirations of the scriptures 
was not included in their qualifications. 

Beginning with the new century, there was a lull 
in the original States in the making of ^ ^^^^ 
new constitutions, which lasted until about 
1825. During this period a number of new States 



110 A History of Pennsylvania 

came into the Union ; and as rank, station and prefer- 
ment are unknown in pioneer life, their constitutions 
greatly extended the rights of the individual. The 
West thus taught the East a lesson in government 
which resulted in constitutional changes along the 
Atlantic coast. Certain economic conditions, too, pre- 
vailed about the year 1825 that led to the making 
of new constitutions on a large scale between that 
time and 1850. The rapid movements of population 
into the West, at intervals after 1800, gave rise to the 
great system of internal improvements, of which the 
turnpikes and canals are the silent evidences. To 
raise money for these purposes, numerous banks 
were organized, paper money was issued, and great 
financial distress was produced. 

Pennsylvania made an effort in 1825 to revise 
The consti- the coustitutiou of 1790, but failed ; and 
tution of 1838 thirteen years elapsed before the work was 
undertaken. The constitution of 1838 allowed the Gov- 
ernor but two terms of three years each in any nine 
years ; in general, the powers of the Legislature were 
enlarged ; nearly all the officers appointed by the 
Governor were made elective by the people or their 
representatives ; his nominations of judges were to 
be confirmed in the senate with open doors ; all life 
offices were abolished ; the terms of judges were limited 
to a certain number of years, and were conditioned 
by good behavior ; the power of the Legislature to 
grant banking privileges was abridged and regulated ; 
and the right of suffrage was extended to all white free- 
men having paid a state or county tax. In the con- 
stitution of 1790, the colored man could vote, but now 
he could not. The revision was ratified by the people. 



The Government of Pennsylvanid 111 

The constitution of 1838 remained in force till 
.1873. The principal reform then necessary The consti- 
was the prohibition of special and local *"**°" °* ^^^^ 
legislation, which had become pernicious and alarm- 
ing. By referring to Article III, Section 7, of the 
constitution of 1873, it may be seen what the nature 
of this legislation was. Large corporations, such as 
railroad, trust, insurance, mining and manufacturing 
companies, had been formed under legislative grants 
of special and exclusive privileges. Hence we find 
a long article in our present constitution on private 
corporations. The XV th Amendment of the Federal 
Constitution made a change necessary in the suffrage 
clause, which now no longer reads "white freemen," 
but " every male citizen," having paid a state or county 
tax. Other vital reforms made were : an increase in 
the number of senators and representatives, the 
creation of a Lieutenant-Governor, biennial sessions 
of the Legislature, minority representation, ^nd the 
election by the people of all judges and certain other 
officers. 

Having traced the form of government in Pennsyl- 
vania from Penn's Frame to the constitution of 1873 
— through a period of two centuries — we find that the 
changes which it underwent were demanded by the 
people and made in their interest. 

BOOKS FOR READING AND CONSULTATION 

Shepherd's Proprietary Government in Pennsylvania, Part II; 
Proud's History of Pennsylvania, Chs. i and ii; Fisher's Evolution 
of the Constitution of the United States, Chs. i-iii; Sharpless' Quaker 
Experiment in Government, passim; Franklin's Historical Review of 
the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania ; Thorpe's Con- 
stitutional History of the American People, Yo\. 1, Chs. ii and iii. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOV- 
ERNMENT 

THE COLONIAL PERIOD 

The Frame of Government having been accepted 
Political and the Great Law enacted, the adminis- 

History Begins tration of the govcmmcnt began, — and 
with it the political history of the Province and State 
of Pennsylvania. The Assembly had no power to 
originate bills ; and the first political struggle of any 
consequence arose from this defect in the Frame of 
Government. Bills originated by the Council were 
frequently rejected by the Assembly, for no good reason 
except to assert what power it had. The deadlocks 
thus produced caused great annoyance to the Pro- 
prietor. So, in 1688, he sent an entire stranger, 
Captain John Blackwell, once an officer in Cromwell's 
army, to act as Governor. But a soldier Governor 
was not acceptable to the Quakers, and his adminis- 
tration made matters no better. Blackwell had to be 
recalled ; and the whole Council — eighteen in number 
— with Thomas Lloyd as president, again became 
Deputy - Governors . 

In 1691, six of the councillors from the "three 
Difficulties lower counties," or Delaware, formed them- 
in Delaware sclvcs into a Separate Council and made 
laws. Their acts were declared illegal ; bat Penn 

(112) 



The Administration of the Government 113 

temporarily satisfied them by appointing William Mark- 
ham, who sympathized with them, to administer the 
government of Delaware. Lloyd was made Deputy- 
Governor of Pennsylvania. Penn yielded to this 
division of the executive power with great reluctance ; 
for he knew it would help his enemies in their effort 
to deprive him of the government. 

When Fletcher assumed control of Pennsylvania (see 
p. 103), Lloyd refused to serve under him, 

*^ ' "^ . ^ Fletcher's Rule 

and Markham again became Deputy- Gov- 
ernor. Fletcher also displaced the Council with a new 
one and he got into a conflict with the Assembly about 
supplies to assist New York in King William's war, 
and about taxes for the support of the government. 
This was a new political problem in Pennsylvania ; but, 
as in all the other colonies, it became the problem to 
be solved by the Revolution. In dealing with it, Penn- 
sylvania employed the same tactics as the other colo- 
nies did ; namely, to grant the requests of the Gov- 
ernor on condition that he would agree to the laws 
they wanted. Fletcher's demands finally encroached 
so much on the Assembly's right to grant its money as 
it saw fit, that he met with a flat refusal, and had to 
send the law -makers home. 

As soon as Penn had flnally departed for England, 
Delaware began to insist on its right to separate 

a separate Assembly, Governor Hamilton's Assembly for 
administration (1701-1703) was almost Delaware 

wholly taken up with attempts to prevent a separa- 
tion, but Delaware was unyielding. Its first General 
Assembly met in 1703, and from that time until the 
Revolution, it had a separate Legislature, but was 
under the same Governor with Pennsylvania. 



114 A History of Pennsylvania 

Hamilton's successor was John Evans (1704-1709). 
He tried to restore the union between 

Governor Evans . t -rx i ■% • n t 

Pennsylvania and Delaware, but sided 
too much with Delaware to please Pennsylvania. He 
made himself still more unpopular by denying the 
right of the Assembly to adjourn at its own pleasure. 
He was Governor while Queen Anne's war was in 
progress, and it was feared at one time that French 
men-of-war would enter the Delaware. Evans knew 
the doctrine of the Quakers about war, but thought 
they would fight if they were attacked. So he planned 
a sham attack. He had a messenger arrive in great 
haste, with the news that the French were coming 
up the river. He himself then rode through the 
streets, entreating the people to arm themselves. 
Some people became badly scared, — valuables were 
thrown into wells, vessels sent up the river, and boats 
secreted in creeks ; but most of the Quakers went 
about their duties as usual. 

To the feeling of disgust which this piece of folly 
Numerous provokcd, was added bitter resentment when 
Complaints ^]^q Govcmor rcfuscd to let the Assembly 
establish a judiciary. Logan, the Secretary of the 
Province, came in for a share of the blame, and 
articles of impeachment were drawn up against him. 
An appeal was made to Penn that if he did not put 
an end to the evil practices of his Governor and Sec- 
retary, the matter would be carried to the Crown. 
Complaints were also made by the Quakers because 
their magistrates had to administer oaths or resign 
their offices. An order to this effect had been issued 
by Queen Anne, because it was represented to her 
that a man might be tried in Pennsylvania for his 



The Administration of the Government 115 

life by a judge, jury and witnesses, none of whom had 
been sworn. 

Evans, having lost the respect and confidence of 
the Quakers, could not cope with all these Governor 
difficulties. Penn therefore recalled him Gookin 
and appointed Charles Gookin Governor, who served 
from 1709 to 1717. Gookin' s first request was for 
men and money for the expedition against Canada, in 
Queen Anne's war. The Assembly objected on the 
ground of conscientious scruples, but voted to make 
the Queen a present of 500 pounds, and added 200 
pounds for the Governor's own use, in case he should 
redress their grievances. The chief grievance they 
had was against Logan, whom they blamed for all 
the evils of Evans' administration. Logan demanded 
a trial, but it was refused. He then went to London 
and explained the controversy to Penn, who acquitted 
him of all blame. 

The new Assembly chosen soon afterwards was 
more friendly to the Proprietary and in penn's 

harmony with the Governor. Gookin ^"^® ^^^^ 
agreed to a system of courts, and to the right of the 
Assembly to adjourn at pleasure. In return a liberal 
sum of money was voted for the war against France. 
Gookin, in 1715, also signed a bill substituting 
affirmations for oaths, and it was in force for five 
years. Then, according to the Charter, it had to be 
presented to the Crown for approval, which it failed 
to get. The law was reenacted at once ; but to pre- 
vent the colonists from living under it for another 
five years. Parliament passed an act making an old 
law of England, which prohibited Quakers from giv- 
ing evidence in criminal cases, sitting on juries, or 



116 



A History of Pennsylvania 




holding any office, apply to all the colonies and so to 
Pennsylvania. Governor Gookin now sided with those 

in the province who were 
anxious to cripple Quaker 
rule. He held that the act 
of Parliament had repealed 
the recent act of the prov- 
ince. This was too much 
to be endured, and his re- 
call was demanded. Penn 
having become too feeble- 
minded to attend to such 
matters, Mrs. Penn requested 
the Governor's resignation. 
And now neither the voice 
nor the pen of the founder 
of Pennsylvania ever again 
took part in the counsels of 
his province. 
Mrs. Penn appointed Sir William Keith to succeed 
Governor GooMu. Keith' s administration (1717-1726) 
Keith ^g^g ygj-y popular with the people but not 

with the Proprietary. He addressed the Crown on the 
vexed question of allowing persons to affirm who re- 
fused to take an oath. He urged that their scruples 
should be respected. The King then ratified an act of 
Parliament to that effect. The Assembly in return 
agreed to a voluntary militia. Foreign immigration next 
demanded attention. The Germans and the Scotch -Irish 
came in such large numbers about this time that their 
naturalization was not looked upon with favor. A 
bill brought in provided that applicants must produce 
a certificate from a justice of the peace certifying to 



Penn's Desk, 
In the Philadelphia Library. 



The Administration of the Government 117 

the amount of property they had and to the nature of 
their religious faith. The Governor objected to these 
scrutinies, and the Assembly granted citizenship with- 
out them, but laid a duty on all imported foreigners 
coming to reside in the province. There were many 
servants among the immigrants. Some of these were 
poor but respectable, and were willing to serve for a 
time in order that they might become free afterwards; 
others were vagrants and felons, sent here as well as to 
the other colonies, by England. A duty of five pounds 
was imposed upon the importer of convicted felons. 

Commerce and finance also engaged the attention 
of the government about this time. There commerce 
was not a sufficient demand for the pro- ^^^ Finance 
ducts of the province, consisting chiefly of flour, 
meats, butter and eggs. So laws were passed to 
create a home consumption. Brewers and distillers 
were required to use nothing but home products, and 
some of these were made a legal tender. Rigid 
inspection of exports was enforced to improve their 
demand abroad, especially in the West Indies, where 
Pennsylvania flour and salt meats sold well. But 
these remedies did not create a market for all that 
grew on the fertile farms so rapidly multiplying. Had 
England allowed her colonies to engage in manufac- 
ture, Pennsylvania might have created a home market. 
As it was, her imports of manufactured articles far 
exceeded her exports, and the specie was drawn off to 
pay balances abroad, money became scarce, and finan- 
cial embarrassment followed. Governor Keith now 
came forward with a proposition to issue paper 
money. The Assembly, having full knowledge of the 
disastrous effects of this kind of currency in other 



118 A History of Pennsylvania 

colonies, acted with great caution, and issued just so 
much as would supply the place of the specie sent 
abroad. The issue under Keith amounted to 45,000 
pounds, secured on silver plate or land. 

Governor Keith was now the idol of the people, 
Governor but uot of Logau aud Mrs. Penn, and so 
Gordon j^g ^^g rccallcd. His successor was Patrick 
Gordon, whose wise and successful administration ex- 
tended from 1726 to his death, in 1736. The five 
years for which the paper money law could be in 
operation, without submitting it to the King for ap- 
proval or rejection, had now expired. The King 
approved it, but warned the province against an ex- 
cess of such money. However, more paper was 
issued. The Assembly had convinced Gordon of its 
usefulness by reminding him of the fact that while in 
the other colonies the notes were secured only on the 
credit of the government, in Pennsylvania they had 
the additional security of the silver plate or land of 
the individual to whom they were issued. Other 
measures of advantage were adopted during Gordon's 
administration. One was the appointment of a per- 
manent agent to represent the Assembly in London. 
He was to explain the laws passed, that they might 
not be vetoed without due consideration. The rapid 
increase of Swiss and German immigration again de- 
manded attention, even England fearing that Pennsj'l- 
vania would become a colony of foreigners. A duty 
of forty shillings per head was laid on all foreign 
immigrants. But when the Scotch -Irish poured into 
the province, the Quakers felt the need of the Ger- 
mans, who generally sided with them in political 
matters, and the odious law was repealed. 



The Administration of the Government 119 

In 1729, the Assembly resolved to build a State 
House. It had been meeting in a Quaker The state 
meeting-house, in a school -house, and in "°"^® ^"^" 
private houses. Work was not commenced until 1732. 
The building was completed in 1741, though the 
finishing touches were not put on it till 1745. A part 




Independence Hall. 



of it was occupied by the Assembly in October, 1735. 
In 1750 an addition was ordered "on the south side, 
to contain the staircase, with a place therein for 
hanging a bell." The bell used before was probably 
brought over by Penn. It had hung on a small 
belfry in front of the buildings in which the Assembly 
met. Members of the Assembly who were not present 
within half an hour after the bell had rung were to 



120 



A History of Fennsylvania 



pay "a tenpenny bit." The bell which has come to 
be known as the Liberty Bell was originally made in 
London. It was twice recast here, in 1753, on ac- 
count of a crack it received when " hung up to try 
the sound." It was then that the words "Proclaim 
liberty throughout the land, unto all the inhabitants 




The Liberty BeU. 

thereof," were added. It was again cracked in 1835, 
while being tolled in memory of Chief Justice 
Marshall, and it now hangs over the hallway of the 
old State House. 

Little did the Assembly of 1729 dream of the his- 
Historic toric scenes that were to be enacted in the 
Associations Pennsylvania State House. Here, June 28, 
1774, resolutions were passed, making common cause 



The Administration of the Government 121 

with Boston, denouncing the "port bill," and recom- 
mending a congress of all the colonies; here the second 
Continental Congress met in 1775, and remained, ex- 
cept when the city was held by the British, till 1783; 
here the Declaration of Independence was passed July 
4, 1776, and first publicly read, July 8 ; here the 
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were 
signed July 9, 1778, and finally ratified March 1, 1781 ; 
here the Constitution was framed, May 25 to September 
17, 1787 ; here the State convention ratified the Con- 
stitution of the United States, December 12, 1787 ; 
and here, in the city building on the corner of Sixth 
and Chestnut streets. Congress sat between 1790 and 
1800, and Washington was inaugurated in 1793 and 
Adams in 1797. 

Mrs. Penn having died in 1733, the government 
became vested in her three surviving sons, The Heirs 
John, Thomas and Richard. John and °* ^®""' 
Thomas both came to Pennsylvania. John could 
not remain long, on account of the boundary dispute 
with Marj^land ; but Thomas remained in the province 
nine years. Governor Gordon died while Thomas Penn 
was still here ; and for two years Logan, who had 
become president of the Council, acted as Governor. 

From 1738 to 1747, the governorship was held by 
George Thomas, a wealthy planter from the Governor 
island of Antiqua. War having been de- Thomas 
clared between England and Spain, in 1739, Governor 
Thomas passed through the same experiences that 
Evans and Gookin had concerning measures of defense. 
To his request for aid, the Assembly replied that their 
conscience forbade them to extend it, but that he, as 
Governor, might organize a voluntary militia without 



122 A History of Pennsylvania 

consulting them. With the aid of Franklin, he soon 
had more troops than the quota called for; but unfortu- 
nately so many of them were redemptioners, anxious to 
escape from servitude, that the Assembly refused to vote 
any money unless these were returned to their masters. 
Thomas was stubborn, and raised funds on the credit 
of the British government. Then the Assembly had to 
indemnify the masters for the loss of their servants. 
It also gave 3,000 pounds to the Crown in aid of the 
war, but nothing to Thomas. Political divisions now 
sprang up. Those who sided with Thomas were called 
the "gentlemen's party;" while those who supported 
the Assembly were known as the "country party." At 
an election for the Assembly, in 1742, the "gentlemen's 
party" was completely routed. Thomas then made 
peace with the Assembly. He signed the laws passed, 
and in return got all arrears of salary. 

In 1744, King George's war commenced, and Penn- 
Peace at sylvauia ceased to be a colony of peace, 
an End Fraucc threatened the province from with- 

out, in the effort to take possession of the Ohio 
valley, and the Indians threatened it from within 
because they had been unjustly deprived of some of 
their lands. A battery was erected below Philadel- 
phia by means of funds raised by lottery. Conrad 
Weiser, the provincial interpreter, was sent among the 
Indians to propose a treaty. The Iroquois promised 
to prevent the French and their Indian allies — the 
Delawares and the Shawanese — from marching through 
Iroquois territory to attack the English settlements. 
However, the lavishness of French presents and the 
memories of the " Walking Purchase" made the set- 
tlers on the frontier feel very uneasy. 



The Admini'stration of the Government 123 

Governor Thomas, assisted by Franklin and Logan, 
had no difficulty in raising a volunteer 
militia. The men who volunteered were 
called Associators, a name applied for many years to 
the militia. They carried for the first time the so- 
called provincial flag of Pennsylvania. It was de- 
signed by Franklin, and consisted of a lion holding a 
cimeter and the shield of the prov- 
ince. The true provincial flag ^fe««.>«BBK«te».^s»a 
(argent, on a fesse sable, three Ml|.\:'Ji^-^^^^^^^^ 
plates), the banner of the Penns, was |l')f''_^9/|l>')y-^ 
never unfurled in Pennsylvania. But fi. ; ''^^^R; :l 
its bearings are set up and displayed fJ'^^^^M^l 
on the shield of arms in the great m;^^M<,i^^^ 
seal and on the official acts and | 
proclamations issued by the State's ' 
authority. The Assembly, in sup- Provincial Flag, 
port of the expedition against Louis- 
burg, voted 4,000 pounds "to be expended for bread, 
beef, pork, flour, wheat and other grain." Fortunately, 
Pennsylvania was not molested in King George's war, 
except to be badly frightened. 

When Thomas resigned, on account of poor health, 
Anthony Palmer, president of the Council, Governor 
became acting Governor. The successor was Hamilton 
James Hamilton, whose administration extended to the 
year 1754. He ruled the province at a time when a 
great storm was gathering. The Indians, incited by 
French presents and promises of lost hunting grounds, 
now showed open contempt for the white man of 
Pennsylvania. The Senecas, on a visit to Philadelphia, 
killed cattle and robbed orchards, not even sparing 
the property of Conrad Weiser. Such acts were com- 



124 A History of Pennsylvania 

mitted to extort presents from the province. In this 
the wily Indians were successful. The Assembly voted 
large sums of money on several occasions to quiet 
them. Nor was this the only expense. The settlers 
had to be reimbursed for their losses. 

Heretofore the Proprietors had borne their share of 
Germs of the the cxpcnsc incurrcd by Indian conferences 
Revolution ^^^ trcatics, bccausc quiet on the frontier 
helped the sale of land. But now, when peace had to 
be kept by an expensive system of presents, they refused 
to contribute. They claimed to have given too much 
already for public defense. Franklin, who was in the 
Assembly in 1751, drew up the reply to the Proprie- 
tors, and warned them that the province might be 
turned into a royal one. In this dispute were formed 
the germs of revolution which matured twenty-five 
years later. A powerful popular party was organized 
to oppose the Proprietors. Logan, the provincial 
Secretary for half a century, was dead, and his place 
was filled by Richard Peters, a man whose sympathies 
were not with the Quakers. This change made it 
possible for the breach to grow rapidly wider. 

The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was simply a truce 
The French bctwecn thc EugUsh and the French, 
in the While it lasted, the English slept and 

Ohio Valley ^^^ Frcuch wcrc wide awake. The Brit- 
ish government was blind to the designs of the 
enemy, which had been for fifty years, and still were, 
to get possession of the Mississippi valley. During 
the years of peace after 1748, the French explored the 
valleys of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, burying 
leaden plates at the mouths of a number of tributa- 
ries, and nailing pieces of tin to trees standing near 



The Administration of the Government 125 

by, as evidences of claims to the land drained by these 
rivers. They then erected forts at various places along 
the route of exploration, and stationed troops therein. 
One — Presque Isle— was located at the present site of 
Erie ; another— Le Boeuf — at that of Waterf ord ; and 
still another— Machault— at that of Franklin. 

To resist the progress of the French, the Assem- 
bly was asked to build a fort at the junc- Hamilton 
tion of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers ; but and the 
the French had so long confined their hos- Assembly 
tilities against New York and New England, that 
Pennsylvania felt at ease. Virginia then commenced 
to build the fort ; but the French seized it and, after 
finishing it, gave it the name of Duquesne. Virginia 
claimed the territory in which the fort was located, 
and promptly dispatched Washington on an expedition 
to drive the French out. Governor Hamilton appealed 
to the Assembly to join Virginia against the intruders; 
but that body decided that the French were as yet 
only in Virginia. After Washington's defeat at Fort 
Necessity, another appeal was made by Hamilton ; but 
as he insisted on an appropriation of money for the 
expedition, the Assembly again refused its consent. 
Rather than yield the right to give money on its own 
terms, the Assembly refused to give any at all. Nor 
was Pennsylvania alone in this position. The other 
colonies, too, withheld money and supplies rather than 
give up their constitutional rights at the dictation of 
the Governors. 

To gain the friendship of the Six Nations, a colo- 
nial congress was held at Albany in 1754, The Albany 
by order of the British government. In- congress 

dian affairs were now taken out of the hands of the 



126 A History of Pennsylvania 

colonies and managed by the mother country through 
an agent appointed by the Crown. Among Pennsyl- 
vania's delegates was Benjamin Franklin. He pre- 
sented a plan of political union, which, though not 
accepted, was a step toward the union formed twenty 
years later. However, the purchase of land from the 
Indians by the Pennsylvania delegates was not a 
praiseworthy act. (See p. 6.) When the Indians in 
Pennsylvania learned that they had been deprived 
of nearly all the land west of the Susquehanna, 
they vowed vengeance, and cast their lot with the 
French. 

Such was the threatening attitude of the French and 
Governor ludlaus whcu, iu Octobcr, 1754, Hamilton, 
Morris wcary of his ofi&ce, resigned, and was suc- 
ceeded by Robert Hunter Morris. The Assembly now 
promptly voted 40,000 pounds of paper money, half 
of which was for the King's use. Morris returned 
the bill, because he wanted the paper money to be re- 
deemable in five years instead of twelve, as stated in 
the bill. To prove its loyalty and yet not surrender 
its absolute rights over money bills, the Assembly, 
on its own credit, borrowed 5,000jpounds, to be ex- 
pended in the King's cause. A year later, the same 
difficulty was solved in the same way. The Governor 
had secret instructions from the Proprietors not to 
assent to any money bills unless he could have a 
voice in disbursing the funds thus raised. But Penn- 
sylvania, as well as the other colonies, contended that 
those who pay the taxes mi^st have sole power to 
apply them. That was a principle of English liberty, 
and the Americans were entitled to all the liberties of 
Englishmen. 



The Administration of the Government 127 

England, perceiving the designs of France to take 
possession of the Mississippi valley, sent two Braddock 
regiments under General Braddock to America Arrives 
in March, 1755. Pennsylvania was asked for troops, 
provisions, transportation, and for a part of a com- 
mon fund to be raised by all the colonies. The 
Assembly met and at once provided for the opening 
of a post road between Philadelphia, and Winchester, 
Virginia, as well as for wagons and pack-horses. 
Franklin undertook the task of getting 150 wagons 
and 1,500 pack-horses. He advertised for these in 
York, Lancaster and Cumberland counties, and in 
two weeks had more than the quota. He gave his 
bonds for such horses as might be lost in the service. 
Claims to the amount of 20,000 pounds — enough to 
ruin him financially — were afterwards presented. The 
Assembly, after a long delay, paid his obligations. 
Three hundred men were then put to work cutting a 
road from Fort Loudon to unite with Braddock' s road 
coming up from Maryland west of the mountains. 
Together with New Jersey, the province also furnished 
a body of troops. 

It was June before Braddock' s army left Fort 
Cumberland for Fort Duquesne, "over the Braddock's 
worst roads in the world." He was accom- T>eie&t 

panied by Washington, two chiefs, in command of 
some Indians, George Croghan, the Indian agent of 
Pennsylvania, and Captain Jack, the "wild hunter." 
Progress was slow, but without danger till the 
Monongahela had been crossed, some seven miles from 
Fort Duquesne, July 9. The army had just finished 
dinner and resumed the march, when it suddenly came 
face to face with the French, Canadians and Indians. 



128 A History of Pennsylvania 

The English troops were at once confused by the 
strange manner of battle employed by the enemy, who 
kept behind trees and logs, while nothing could be 
seen but puffs of smoke. When Braddock rode up 
and down among his men, urging them to fight, they 
replied that they would do so if he could show them 
the enemy. He got angry at Washington for sug- 
gesting to fight the Indians in Indian fashion, and 
when some of the soldiers did resort to it, he rudely 
ordered them away from their shelter. The battle 
lasted for three hours, and had not Washington cov- 
ered the retreat with his provincials, the entire army 
would have been annihilated. Braddock was shot in 
the back just after he had ordered a retreat. He died 
on the summit of Laurel Hill the third day after- 
wards. His body was buried in the center of the 
road, that the retreating army in marching over it 
might efface all signs of the grave. In 1804 the re- 
mains were re -interred at the foot of a large white 
oak tree near by- 

Braddock' s defeat was followed by the greatest 
The Indians constcmation in Pennsylvania. The In- 
take Revenge (jians uow had the opportunity of aveng- 
ing the Walking Purchase, the Albany Deed, and other 
acts of injustice, real and imaginary. They fell upon 
the frontier of Pennsylvania along its entire length — 
a distance of two hundred miles. First they disposed 
of the isolated settler beyond the mountains,— in the 
valleys of the Juniata and the Susquehanna. With 
no neighbors nearer than four or five miles, he was an 
easy victim. A "plow in the furrow, a cabin in ashes, 
and a family scalped, mutilated and murdered, was the 
usual tale. Then the bloodthirsty Indians broke 



The Administration of the Government 129 

through the gaps of the Blue Ridge. The French offi- 
cers who were with them had no control over them. 
The main body was encamped on the Susquehanna, 
thirty miles above Harris' ferry. Thence they rav- 
aged the counties of Cumberland, Lancaster, Berks 
and Northampton. Their atrocities were carried to 
within fifty miles of Philadelphia ; the scalp yells 
were heard at Nazareth and Bethlehem, to which 
towns the Indians carried their prisoners and plunder. 
Governor Morris called the Assembly in Novem- 
ber ; but he rejected their bill to raise Difficulties in 
money for the King's use because it taxed Raising Funds 
the Proprietary estates. The Assembly then raised 
10,000 pounds by voluntary subscriptions, promising 
to reimburse the subscribers. Petitions for arms and 
ammunition now came in from every part of the prov- 
ince. The frontier counties passed resolutions at 
public meetings to repair to Philadelphia and demand 
measures and means of defense. A body of four hun- 
dred Germans marched to the city, crowded into the 
hall of the Assembly, and in personal interviews im- 
pressed their demands. The murdered and mangled 
bodies of a family butchered by the Indians were 
taken to Philadelphia, like frozen venison from the 
mountains, hauled about the streets, and actually 
placed in the doorway of the Assembly. About 
three hundred Indians who had remained faithful 
to the memory of Penn also joined in the appeals 
for help. The political quarrel could not be continued 
under such conditions. The Proprietors offered a do- 
nation of 5,000 pounds for the defence of the 
province, and . the Assembly passed a bill to raise 
money without taxing the Proprietary estates. 




130 A History of Pennsylvania 

A militia law, prepared by Franklin, was the next 
A Militia measure of defence. The Proprietary, by 
Law Passed yirtue of the charter, could raise a militia; 
but prior to 1755, no militia law had been passed. 
Now, however, the Assembly decided that, although 
it was against their own scruples to bear arms, they 
would allow those who thought it right, to do so. 
It was to be altogether a volunteer 
system. Franklin was made com- 
mander. He led about five hundred 
men to Bethlehem, in December, to 
give much -needed succor to the Mora- 
vian settlements. He remained in 
Northampton county till February, and 

Benjamin Franklin. ^^^^ ^j^^^^ ^^^ rOU^hcd it with the 

associators. The philosopher, scientist, journalist and 
statesman became so popular as a soldier that he was 
made a colonel, and was actually suggested to lead 
an expedition against Fort Duquesne. 

While Franklin was in the field, he erected Fort 
Allen, opposite the mouth of Mahoning 

Frontier Forts ^ trir o 

creek, and formed a hue of communication 
through the wilderness to Wyoming, establishing a 
fort at mid -distance, called the Middle Fort. Gov- 
ernor Morris, about the same time, decided to build 
Fort Augusta at Shamokin. But there were so many 
points along the frontier that needed such protection 
that the Assembly took the matter in hand, and ap- 
propriated 85,000 pounds for a chain of forts from 
the Delaware to the Maryland line. At first there 
were less than twenty; but at the close of the war, 
no less than two hundred stockades and blockhouses 
had been erected, so as to form two distinct lines of 



The Administration of the Government 131 

defence on the frontier. They commanded the prin- 
cipal passes in the mountains, and were garrisoned 
by the militia or by the rangers. The settlers fre- 
quently lived in the forts for months at a time, taking 
their household goods, farm implements, and live 
stock with them into the enclosure. When there was 
no immediate danger outside, the men worked in 
their fields during the day, and returned at night. 
They always took their rifles with them, and were 
often accompanied by sentinels. To incite the ener- 
gies of the militia in the forts, and of the frontiers- 
men in general. Governor Morris offered a reward 
for Indian scalps and for the recoverj^ of English 
prisoners. The Indians could be traced and located 
by their paths, of which there were four leading ones. 
But the reward for scalps did not accomplish much, 
except to arouse the indignation of the Assembly. 

Morris also planned Colonel Armstrong's famous 
expedition against the Indian stronghold Armstrong's 
at Kittanning, although it was executed Expedition 
under his successor. The force, consisting ot three 
hundred men, marched from Fort Shirley, now in 
Huntingdon county, August 30, 1756, and attacked 
Captain Jacobs, the most active chief of that time, at 
daybreak of the 8th of September. Many of the In- 
dians were sleeping in a cornfield, on account of the 
heat. They were surprised and driven into the town. 
After two refusals to surrender, their huts were set 
on fire, and many of the savages died in the flames, 
singing and whooping as they perished. Captain Jacobs 
was shot while trying to escape from a window. The 
best part of the victory was the capture and de- 
struction of great quantities of powder and other stores 



132 A History of Pennsylvania 

which the French had supplied. Colonel Armstrong 
received a medal from the Council of Philadelphia in 
recognition of his services. If he had not destroyed 
Kittanning, Captain Jacobs would have marched for 
Fort Shirley the next day. 

Governor Morris was succeeded, in 1756, by Wil- 
Governor Ham Dcuny ; but the Proprietary instructions 
Denny ^gj,Q ^q^ chaugcd. As it was no time for 
renewing an old quarrel, the Assembly waived its 
rights temporarily, and passed a money bill satisfactory 
to the Governor. They even passed a compulsory 
militia law, but Denny vetoed it. Arms and ammu- 
nition were needed more than men. Guns were out 
of repair, flints were scarce and poor, and the forts 
were without cannon. Under such conditions, Arm- 
strong's victory lost its effect. PIT) wing and seeding 
and harvesting had again to be done in dread fear of 
the Indian's tomahawk and scalping knife. The bor- 
der counties in 1757 were kept in constant alarm, 
and the savages carried terror even to within thirtv 
miles of Philadelphia. 

Fortunately, with the advent of William Pitt as 
A Change in primc miuistcr of England, "the heavens 
the Ministry bcgau to brightcu and the storm to lose 
its power." England now sent men and munitions 
of war in numbers and quantities sufficient to put 
an end to the struggle with France. Pitt pledged 
himself to pay liberally all soldiers who enlisted in 
America. Pennsylvania raised 2,700 men. Of the 
three expeditions planned, the one against Fort 
Duquesne was led by General John Forbes. His 
army consisted of the provincials of Pennsj-lvania 
and the southern colonies and of British regulars — 



The Administration of the Government 133 

9,000 all told. It rendezvoused at Bedford, in Sep- 
tember, 1758, and at the suggestion of Colonel Bou- 
quet, a Swiss officer in the service of the British army, 
cut a new road from Raystown to Loyalhanna — a 
distance of forty -five miles. Loyalhanna was made 
the base of operations. A small force was sent for- 
ward to ascertain the strength of the enemy at Fort 
Duquesne. Venturing too far, the detachment was 
attacked, and fared no better than Braddock. En- 
couraged by their success, the French and Indians 
resolved to make a sudden assault on the camp at 
Loyalhanna, but were repulsed twice by Colonel 
Bouquet. Forbes having been detained at Carlisle 
by sickness, reached Loyalhanna about November 
1st. The campaign would have been postponed till 
spring but for the capture of three French scouts, 
who dropped the secret that Fort Duquesne was 
weakly garrisoned. Forbes quickly altered his plans, 
and sent Washington forward with the Virginians. 
But the enemy had fled. Flaming timbers and ex- 
ploding powder were all that was left at Fort Du- 
quesne to tell the tale of French occupation in the 
Ohio valley. Forbes was a hero; the French and 
Indian war was over in Pennsylvania ; and the 
question whether the Celtic or the Teutonic civili- 
zation should prevail in North America was more 
than half solved. Forbes' success was due in no 
small degree to Frederick Post, a Moravian mis- 
sionary. At the instance of the Friendly Association 
of Quakers, this heroic man twice, once in July and 
again in October, went among the savages of the 
West on a mission of peace. Under the very shadow 
of Fort Duquesne, in the presence of the French, 



134 A History of Pennsylvania 

and in the face of threatened death, he made a treaty 
with the Delawares [and the Shawanese, whereby 
these became the friends of the English before Gen- 
eral Forbes had marched out of Loyalhanna. 

The Assembly, in 1757, had resumed the question 
Proprietary of taxiug the cstatcs of the Proprietary. 
Estates Taxed rpj^^y ^^^ ^^^^ Fraukliu to England to 

appeal to the King and Parliament. Finding the 
King too busy with the war to give him an audience, 
Franklin appealed to the people bj^ publishing a book, 
entitled " Historical Review of Pennsylvania." Com- 
ing from the man who had discovered the identity of 
electricity and lightning, the book was read by 
lords and commons. The English people could see no 
reason why Penn's estates should not be taxed, while 
they themselves paid heavy taxes for the war in 
America. So when finally, in 1759, the question came 
before the Privy Council, Franklin won the day. His 
fame as a diplomat spread all over America, and 
several other colonies made him their representative in 
London, to adjust their difficulties. 

Governor Denny was removed by the Proprietors 
Pontiac's lu 1759, and James Hamilton appointed in 
Conspiracy j^jg placc. The Asscmbly was now in a 
position to aid in the prosecution of the war in 
Canada without endangering its rights, and it did so 
most generously. After the treaty of 1763 there was 
every prospect of a long era of peace. There was no 
foreign foe bej'ond the mountains to invade the colo- 
nies, or to incite the Indians against the frontier. 
The settlers returned to their abandoned homes to 
begin life anew ; and the English government forti- 
fied the region conquered from the French. But the 



The Administration of the Government 135 

extension of these defenses and the ^rapid advance 
of the settlers caused a fresh uprising among the 
savages. Pontiac, a veritable Napoleon of the wilder- 
ness, organized all the tribes from Lake Ontario to 
Georgia in a grand conspiracy to repel the English. 
In western Pennsylvania he was ably seconded by 
Kiashuta, the viceroy of the Six Nations. The attack 
was to be made on all the forts and settlements on 
the same day ; but the plan miscarried, and Fort Pitt 
was surrounded about June 1, 1763, a few days before 
the warwhoop was heard in New York, Maryland and 
Virginia. A bundle of sticks had been given to every 
tribe in the confederacy, each bundle containing as 
many sticks as there were days till the time for the 
attack. One stick was to be drawn out every morn- 
ing ; the day on which the last one was removed was 
to be the time for the attack. A Delaware squaw 
on the Ohio, who was in sympathy with the whites, 
had purposely drawn out two or three sticks, unno- 
ticed by the warriors, and so brought about the 
untimely action. 

The whole frontier of Pennsylvania west of the 
Susquehanna, was devastated so com- The Frontier 
pletely that Indian history in America Devastated 
presents no parallel. The tomahawk first and the 
torch next, was the order which Pontiac had given 
all along the line. Corpses and ashes marked the 
path of destruction. Although the harvest was ripe, 
the farmers abandoned their grain fields and fled 
through the mountain passes to the settlements 
beyond. On the 25th of July Shippensburg har- 
bored over three hundred fugitives ; Carlisle, too, was 
full to overflowing, and so were other places. Colonel 



136 A History of Pennsylvania 

Armstrong, with some three hundred volunteers from 
Carlisle, Shippensburg and Bedford, started from Fort 
Shirley, on the Aughwick, to destroy the Indian set- 
tlement at Muncy, but the enemy had fled when he 
arrived there. 

But these and other feeble efforts at resistance 
Bouquet's Were far from effective. Unless Fort Pitt, 
Expedition from which the Indians had cut off all 
communication, could be relieved, there would be no 
safety east of it. General Amherst, commander of 
the British army in America, dispatched Colonel Bou- 
quet to western Pennsylvania. His command was 
composed of rangers from Lancaster and Cumberland 
counties, and about five hundred regulars, who were 
wornout veterans, unfit for hard service, some having 
to be conveyed in wagons. Starting from Carlisle 
July 21, he marched by way of Fort Bedford and 
Fort Ligonier. On August 5, when within a short 
distance of Bushy run, near Braddock's field, the In- 
dians made a savage attack on his advance guard ; 
and when the main army came up a fierce battle ensued, 
lasting the greater part of two days. Nothing but a 
strategy saved Colonel Bouquet's troops from being 
annihilated. In the night he arranged them in a 
circle. He then ordered a feigned retreat to be made 
at the point of the enemy's deadliest fire. The 
Indians rushed into the circle in pursuit of the 
retreating lines, but before they were aware of it 
received such a fire from all directions that they fled 
beyond the Ohio in the utmost confusion. Bouquet 
now led his tired army to Fort Pitt, and began to 
erect a redoubt — a square stone building, which is 
still standing — in place of the old fort. It is the last 



The Administration of the Government 137 




Bouquet's Redoubt. 



monument of British dominion in Pittsburg. On it is 
the inscription, "Colonel Bouquet, A. D. 1764." The 
Indians withdrew beyond the Ohio. 

For some months after the battle of Bushy Run, 
the frontier of Pennsylvania 
was comparatively quiet. The 
raid made upon the Con- 
estoga Indians (see p. 55) 
especially had a wholesome 
effect upon the savages. But 
with the first appearance of 
spring, in 1764, hostilities 
were renewed. The British 
government now resolved to 
carry the war into the 
Indian country. Two expeditions were planned — 
one against the Indians along the Great Lakes, and 
the other against those on the Ohio. The latter was 
entrusted to Colonel Bouquet. The Assembly voted 
to raise 1,000 men, 50,000 pounds, and 50 pairs of 
bloodhounds. The use of the dogs was not put into 
effect. Bouquet marched bravely into the wilderness 
of Ohio, completely overawed the Indians, and made 
them sue for peace. They had to give up all the 
white prisoners — more than two hundred in num- 
ber — many of whom had been in captivity since 
1755. Some of the soldiers had relatives and friends 
among the captives, and the reunion of such was a 
most affecting scene. Many of the children had 
become so attached to Indian life that they had to 
be taken back to their homes by force. A few, who 
had married Indians, never returned. Those who 
could not be identified at Fort Pitt were brought to 



138 A History of Pennsylvania 

Carlisle, in the hope that people east of the mouo- 
tains might claim them. It was here that the old 
German widow, Mrs. Hartman, caused her long -lost 
daughter to recognize her by singing a cradle song. 

Although Franklin had secured the decision in 
To Abolish the England that the estates of the Penns 
Proprietorship ^erc to bc taxcd, yet how and upon what 
basis, was an open question. Governor John Penn, 
grandson of William, and successor to Hamilton, 
would not sign the grant for Bouquet's expedition 
unless the best wild lands of the family estates were 
taxed at the same low rate paid by the people for 
the poorest ; and the Assembly, anxious for peace, 
yielded. Immediately, strong opposition arose against 
the Proprietors, and measures were taken to abolish 
the Proprietorship and make Pennsylvania a royal 
province. The Assembly passed resolutions rehearsing 
the tyranny of the Proprietary, and a bitter factional 
struggle ensued among the people. The anti- Proprie- 
tary party circulated petitions praying the King to 
take the province under his benign protection. In 
October, 1764, the Assembly passed the petition for a 
change of government by a vote of 27 to 3. Rather 
than sign the document, Issac Norris, at the last 
moment, resigned the position of Speaker. In the 
final debate, John Dickinson and Joseph Galloway 
made the leading speeches for and against, respect- 
ively. Both desired the success of the democratic 
principle that was asserting itself in the province ; 
but Galloway favored the abolition of the Proprietary 
government as the best way to accomplish the end, 
while Dickinson believed its continuance would serve 
the end better. 



The Administration of the Government 139 

Franklin was appointed to carry the petition to 
England and lay it before the Crown. The Proprie- 
tors do not seem to have feared the result. Thomas 
Penn wrote from England to a friend in Pennsyl- 
vania : " We are not in fear of your mighty Goliath, 
whose schemes of government are not approved of 
here, and who may lose the government of a post- 
office by grasping at that of a province." In Novem- 
ber, 1765, Franklin laid the petition of the Assembly 
before the Privy Council ; but no action was taken, 
except that the Penns were required to furnish the 
Crown a statement of the financial management of 
the province. However, the agitation had its whole- 
some effects. The Proprietors ordered Governor Penn 
to do everything in his power to conciliate the fac- 
tions in Pennsylvania. His task was made easy, for 
in their wrath against the Stamp Act the people lost 
sight of their grievances with the Proprietors. Never- 
theless, the effort to throw off the Proprietary Gov- 
ernment was a preparatory drill for the Revolution ten 
years later. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 

In 1764, Parliament announced a new doctrine of 
taxation to the colonies. It was to the ef- 

1 . rt n -, TT" "^^^ Stamp Act 

feet that m future, revenue for the King's 
use would be raised in America by Parliamentary acts. 
Before that time, internal taxes had always been im- 
posed by the colonial legislatures. A bill passed on 
this doctrine of " taxation without representation " was 
brought in and passed in March, 1765. It was the 
famous Stamp Act. Dr. Franklin, who was in Eng- 



140 A History of Pennsylvania 

land at the time, did all he could to prevent its pas- 
sage; but, said he, "England was provoked by Amer- 
ican claims of independence, and all parties joined 
in resolving by this act to settle that point." No 
sooner had the news reached America than the 
Stamp Act Congress was called to meet at New York. 
John Dickinson, of Philadelphia, drafted the reso- 
lutions, since known as the first American Bill of 
Rights. John Hughes, a member of the Assembly, 
was made stamp distributor for Pennsylvania ; but 
when the bells were muf&ed, the colors hoisted half- 
mast, and acts of violence threatened, he resigned. 
A Philadelphia newspaper appeared the day before the 
act went into effect, with skull and cross-bones, spade 
and shovel. The editor stopped and asked for sub- 
scriptions due, that he might live. The storekeepers 
resolved to buy no more British goods. To increase 
the product of domestic wool, lambs were no longer 
killed. Great frugality was practiced, even the 
"pomp of woe" at funerals was restrained. Such 
were the results accomplished in Pennsylvania by 
the Sons of Liberty, in opposition to the Stamp Act, 
and when news of its repeal reached Philadelphia, 
they were in high glee over the victory. Thej^ dined 
and wined the captain of the brig bringing the news, 
and presented a gold -laced hat to him. Their kindly 
feeling for the mother country returned unabated ; 
for on the King's birthday, they dressed themselves 
in English goods and gave their homespun to the poor. 
Dr. Franklin, who was largely instrumental in the 
repeal of the Stamp Act, had to caution his friends in 
America not to be too demonstrative, lest England 
take offense. 




The Administration of the Government 141 

William Pitt, who " rejoiced that America had 
resisted" the Stamp Act, drew a line be- External 
tween internal and external taxation, hold- Taxation 
ing that Parliament could tax the colonies by the 
latter method, on the ground that it could regulate 
trade and raise a revenue. Accordingly, in 1767, an 
act was passed providing for colonial revenue, to be 
raised from a duty on wine, oil, glass, 
paper, lead, colors and tea, the pro- 
ceeds to be used to pay the gover- 
nors'- and the judges' salaries in the 
royal provinces. Again non- importa- 
tion agreements were proposed and 
accepted by the Philadelphia mer- 
chants, while the province sent pro- 
tests to the King and to Parliament. ""'^^ ^^<^^--o.. 
John Dickinson, in the " Letters of a Pennsylvania 
Farmer," stirred the colonists from New Hampshire 
to Georgia with his simple, irresistible logic. The 
farmers especially — and they were by far the most 
numerous class of people then — were thoroughly 
aroused from their political sleep by Dickinson. He 
pointed out " that any law, so far as it creates 
expense, is in reality a tax;" that if England 
could tax the colonies for the support of the gov- 
ernors and judges, the salaries of these officers would 
no longer depend on their standing with the Assem- 
blies, but would be fixed by the King to serve his own 
ends; that the Governors might not call the Assemblies 
together at all, except " to make laws for the yoking 
of hogs or the pounding of stray cattle." Dickinson's 
letters were widely read, both here and abroad. At 
a public meeting in Boston, Hancock, Adams, War- 



142 A ^History of Pennsylvania 

ren, and others were appointed a committee to write 
him a letter, saluting " the Farmer as the friend of 
Americans and the common benefactor of mankind." 
Excepting a brief change in the governorship, 
John and poUtical affairs were quiet in Pennsylva- 

Richard Penn ^^^ till 1773. Johu Pcun haviug returned 
to England in 1771, the president of the Council, 
James Hamilton, acted as Governor until Richard 
Penn, a younger brother of John, arrived a few 
months later. Richard was a great favorite in Penn- 
sylvania, but he served only till his brother John 
returned, in 1773. John Penn now held the governor- 
ship until the end of Proprietary government, in 1776. 
The duties imposed by the act of 1767 were re- 
The Tax movcd lu 1770 from everything but tea, 
on Tea which was taxcd three pence per pound ; 
but the non- importation agreements were faithfully 
kept. Hence England was obliged to make arrange- 
ments at home so that the accumulated tea of the 
East India Company could be sold in America for 
what the colonists could buy it before the tax 
was on it. This act gave rise to the so-called "tea 
parties." The East India Company sent several ves- 
sels loaded with tea to the colonies, but it was not 
allowed to be landed. At Philadelphia, the ships 
"with the detested tea" got as far as Gloucester Point, 
where a committee from a mass meeting of 8,000 
people, assembled in the State House yard, met them 
and warned them not to come nearer. The captain 
was allowed to come to town and decide for himself 
whether he thought it prudent to land. He came, 
but decided not to land. The committee also induced 
the consignees to resign their commissions for selling 



The Administration of the Government 143 

the tea. The following is a facsimile of the notice 
sent to the consignees : 



HG** 



sr*"' 



CARD. 






THE PUBLIC prefent their Compliments to Meflieurs 
JAMES AND DRlNKER.—.Wc are informed thet you 
have this Day received your ComminTion to en Have your native 
Country} and, as your frivolous Plea of having received no 
Advice, relative io the fcandalous Part you vrere to aA, in the 
Tea>Schcme, can no longer ferve your Purpofc, nor divert our 
Attention* WE«xpe£t and defire you wilt immediately inform 
the Public, by a Line or two to be left at theCoTF£C Houss, 
"Whether too will, or will not, renounce all Prctenfions to 
execute that Commiflionf that YHE. may govern ouk- 

SCLYES ACCOH1)lKGI.Y. 



PhiUddfbidt Dcemier 2, 1773. 



»C|-- 



.•*►. — io 



When the Boston Port Bill (see any United States 
history) was passed by Parliament, in Pennsylvania 
1774, and other repressive acts designed conservative 
to bring Massachusetts to submission, that colony 
felt that it could no longer resist Great Britain 
without the help of the others. This was not 
difficult to get in some colonies ; for they had like- 
wise been made to feel the rod of the mother 
country. Virginia promptly passed a resolution in 
her Legislature setting apart the day on which the 
Boston Port Bill was to go into effect as one of 
"fasting, humiliation and prayer." Virginia, like 
Massachusetts, had been deprived of her liberties by 
numerous acts of oppression and restraint, and was 
ripe for a united effort to regain what she had lost. 



144 A History of Pennsylvania 

Pennsylvania, having had a Proprietary form of gov- 
ernment, based on a most liberal charter, could not so 
readily trace her ills to the Crown. Moreover, the 
province always enjoyed a growth and a prosperity so 
great and uniform that the ills of government bore 
less heavily on her than on other colonies. It was 
natural, therefore, to find a strong conservative ele- 
ment in Pennsylvania when the first steps were taken 
to resist Great Britain. 

Since Pennsylvania, being next to Virginia and 
Paul Revere's CQual to Massachusctts iu populatiou, 

Visit would influence the middle colonies by 

her action, as the other two did their neighbors, it 
was important that she should respond promptly and 
vigorously to the cry from Boston. So in May, 1774, 
Paul Revere came to Philadelphia to explain the situ- 
ation. He was received by Joseph Reed, Thomas 
Mifflin and Charles Thomson, who introduced him to 
other leading men. A public meeting was held 
in the City Tavern the very next day. Speeches 
were made by Reed, Mifflin, Thomson and Dickin- 
son. Dr. William Smith, provost of the Phila- 
delphia College, drew up a letter to be carried to 
Boston by Revere. The letter, and a set of resolu- 
tions accompanying it, defended the right of the 
colonies to give and grant their own money through 
their own Assemblies ; the Boston Port Bill was de- 
nounced, and deep sympathy expressed for Massachu- 
setts ; and a colonial congress was recommended. 
Copies were sent to the other colonies, that a united 
effort might be made throughout America to let Great 
Britain know that a principle is far too dear to be 
abandoned by the payment of a petty tax on tea. 



The Administration of the Government 145 

Another and a larger meeting was held June 28, 
in the State House. Stirring resolutions The People 
were again passed, similar to the others ; organize 
the Governor was asked to call the Assembly 
together ; a congress of all the colonies was recom- 
mended ; and a committee was appointed to corre- 
spond with similar committees then organizing in the 
other counties of the province. Governor Penn 
having declined to call the Assembly, these com- 
mittees were to be the nucleus of a new organization 
in the movement against the oppressive acts of Eng- 
land. Meetings were held throughout the province 
" to take the sentiments of the inhabitants." Those 
who favored the liberty partj^ were called "Whigs," 
and those whose sympathies were with Great Britain 
were called "Tories." At the suggestion of the com- 
mittee of Philadelphia, deputies were chosen from 
every county to meet in the city July 15. At this 
provincial congress, an account of what had already 
been done in Pennsylvania and other colonies was 
given ; sixteen resolutions were drawn up to express 
the sense of the convention on the difficulties with 
Great Britain ; and a set of instructions was addressed 
to the Assembly. The " instructions " were the work 
very largely of John Dickinson. 

" Honor, justice and humanity call upon us to hold, and to 
transmit to our posterity, that liberty which we. received from 
our ancestors. It is not our duty to leave wealth to our chil- 
dren ; but it is our duty to leave liberty to them. * * * So 
alarming are the measures already taken for laying the founda- 
tions of a despotic authority over us * ^ * that unless we 
can interrupt the work, our children will not be able to over- 
throw it when completed." 



146 A History of Pennsylvania 

" For attaining this great and desirable end," tht 
The First AsscHibly was asked to appoint delegates 
Continental " to attend a Congress of Deputies from tlie 
Congress several colonies." The men appointed were 
Joseph Galloway, Samuel Rhoads, Thomas Mifftin and 
John Dickinson, of Philadelphia ; John Morton, of 
Chester ; Charles Humphreys, of Haverford ; George 
Ross, of Lancaster, and Edward Biddle, of Reading. 
These were Pennsylvania's delegates to what has since 
been known as the First Continental Congress, whose 
sessions were held in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, 
September 5 to October 26. Dickinson was the lead- 
ing man among them. Of the six papers drawn up 
by the Congress, he was the author of two — the 
famous petition to the King, and the address to the 
people of Canada. Galloway played a conspicuous 
but not very honorable part. According to Bancroft, 
he " acted as a volunteer spy for the British govern- 
ment." " To the delegates from other colonies," says 
the historian, " he insinuated as they arrived that 
' commissioner^ with full power should repair to the 
British cour ,, after the example of the Roman, Gre- 
cian, and Macedonian colonies on occasions of the like 
nature.' His colleagues spurned the thought of send- 
ing envoys to dangle at the heels of a minister and 
undergo the scorn of Parliament." On the third day, 
the Congress was opened with praj^r, after Samuel 
Adams had silenced the objections of Jay and 
Rutledge by declaring : " I am no bigot ; I can hear 
a prayer from a man of piety and virtue, who is at 
the same time a friend to his country." The man 
named for this sacred duty was Rev. Jacob Duclie. 
rector of Christ church, and first chaplain of the 



The Administration of the Government 147 



Second Continental Congress. News had just been 
received of a bloody attack on the people by the 
troops at Boston ; and as the collect for the day was 
read, the members of the Congress believed that a 




Carpenters' Hall. 

rude soldiery was then infesting the dwellings and tak- 
ing the lives of the people of Boston. Heaven itself 
seemed to dictate the words of Scripture, the 35th 
Psalm, that memorable morning : 

Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: 
fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield 
and buckler, and stand up for mine help. * * * * 

Carpenters' Hall was built in 1770 by the Car- 
penters' Company, an organization formed 

r .. ' , \' ' t,.. . -, Carpenters' Hall 

tor giving instruction in architecture and 

assisting poor members' widows and children. After 



148 A History of Pennsylvania 

the First Congress the building was occupied by 
various bodies representing the province. The British 
occupied it in 1777, the soldiers using the vane on 
the cupola for target practice. The First and Second 
National Banks both transacted their business within 
its walls for several years. Later on it served in all 
sorts of capacities — as custom house, land office, 
music hall, meeting house, school house, horse market, 
furniture store. In 1857, the Carpenters again took pos- 
session of their ancient hall, and have since kept it 
open as a historic relic. Half a million people 
visited the time -honored building during the Centen- 
nial Exhibition, in 1876. 

The report of the proceedings of the First Conti- 
The Assembly cental Cougrcss was unanimously adopted 
Ratifies the Acts by thc Pennsylvania Assembly, early in 
Congress Deccmbcr ; and the province thus became 
a member of the American Association designed to 
secure the enforcement of non- importation and non- 
consumption of British goods. Biddle, Dickinson, 
Mifflin, Galloway, Humphreys, Morton and Ross were 
elected delegates to the Second Continental Congress, 
to meet May 10, 1775. Franklin, on arriving from 
his ten years' sojourn in England, in the spring of 
1775, was at once added to the delegation. Galloway 
had requested to be relieved from serving on account 
of the radical acts against England. Governor Penn 
had hitherto refrained from directing or controlling 
the Assembly in matters pertaining to the contest. 
But when Great Britain proposed not to tax the colo- 
nists, provided they would tax themselves to the satis- 
faction of Parliament, the Governor, in a message to 
the Assembly, May, 1775, sided with Great Britain, 



The Administration of the Government 149 

A second provincial congress was held in Philadel- 
phia, January, 1775. Nearly all the coun- An Echo from 
ties were represented. Resolutions were Lexington 

adopted to provide means for the growth and manu- 
facture of things that used to be imported from 
England. At first it was determined to exhaust all 
peaceable measures for the restoration of American 
rights before resorting to arms. It was not until 
" the shot which was heard around the world " had 
been fired at Lexington, that a different spirit began 
to make itself strongly felt. Thousands of people 
now agreed " to associate for the purpose of defending 
with arms their lives, their property, and their liberty," 

Pennsylvania's instructions to her delegates in the 
Second Congress, to whom, besides Frank- Redress of 
lin, Thomas Willing, of Philadelphia, and Grievances 
James Wilson, of Cumberland, were added, sought 

had been to combine, if possible, a redress of griev- 
ances with "union and harmony between Great 
Britain and the colonies." In this position Pennsyl- 
vania was not alone; for the Americans generally had 
not yet given up the hope of reconciliation. Independ- 
ence seemed probable, but not inevitable. Franklin, 
however, supported the boldest measures. " Make 
yourselves sheep," he would say, " and the wolves 
will devour you." Dickinson favored a second peti- 
tion to the King, and drafted it ; but the King 
"determined to listen to nothing from the illegal 
Congress." 

On the 14th of June, 1775, Congress resolved to 
raise a Continental army. Its first levy a continental 
was for "six companies of expert rifle- Army Formed 
men to be raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, 



150 A History of Pennsylvania 

and two in Virginia." A few days later two more 
companies were ordered from Pennsylvania. The 
Assembly at once recommended to the counties to 
provide arms and equipments for this force. It also 
appointed a Committee of Safety June 30, consisting 
of ten persons from the city of Philadelphia, four 
from the county, two from Chester, and one from 
each of the other nine counties. This body organ- 
ized, with Franklin as president. Its first act was to 
draft rules and regulations for the associators, or 
militia, which included all able-bodied men between 
the ages of 16 and 50. Many persons declined to 
perform military duty on the ground of conscientious 
scruples. All such were to contribute an equivalent 
in money for military service. The eight companies 
of volunteer riflemen, called by Congress, were raised 
without any difficulty. Lancaster county furnished 
two instead of one, and so there were nine when the 
quota had been completed. They were formed into 
a battalion, commanded by Colonel William Thomp- 
son, of Carlisle. The companies marched for Boston 
as soon as they were organized. On the 18th of 
July, Nagel's Berks County "Dutchmen" — the first 
company to be ready — arrived at Cambridge, and 
within less than sixty days from the date of the call 
of Congress, the riflemen of Pennsylvania, Maryland 
and Virginia were all with Washington, the first 
troops called into the Continental army. 

The Committee of Safety next went to work on 
The American the dcfcnses of Philadelphia against an 

Navy invasion from the sea. It put the fa- 

mous chevaux-de-frize in the Delaware, and began the 
Gonstruction of the State Navy. In August, 1776, 



The Administration of the Government 151 

the fleet numbered twenty -seven vessels, with Cap- 
tain Thomas Reed as commodore, the first officer of 
that title in America. One of the first commissions 
issued was that to the famous Nicholas Biddle, as 
captain of the Franklin. Three months after the 
State Navy was begun, Congress took action for the 
construction of a Continental Navy, which was also 
fitted out at Philadelphia. 

The opening gun of the year 1776, the most 
memorable of all the years of the Revo- "common 
lution, was Thomas Paine's pamphlet, sense" 
"Common Sense," brought out January 8. The son 
of a Quaker in England, he was induced by Frank- 
lin to come to Philadelphia, where he associated 
with Rittenhouse, Clymer, Rush, and other patriots 
of Pennsylvania. 

"Everything that is right and natural pleads for separa- 
tion. Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed 
England and America is a strong and natural proof that the 
authority of the one over the other was never the design of 
Heaven. It is not in the power of Britain, or of Europe, to 
conquer America, if she does not conquer herself by delay 
and timidity." 

"Common Sense" was written to overthrow the 
Proprietary party in Pennsylvania, but it did more. 
The King had just issued his proclamation denouncing 
the colonists as rebels. Paine 's pamphlet, therefore, 
came at a most opportune time to create sentiment 
in favor of a separation. 

In April, the Assembly renewed its instructions to 
the Pennsylvania delegates in Congress The Assembly 
not to give their consent to a separation Tested 
or a change of the Proprietary government. But 



152 A History of Pennsylvania 

Congress, May 15, recommended State governments in 
the colonies, and declared that all authority under the 
Crown should be totally suppressed. On the 8th of 
June, the day after Richard Henry Lee, in Congress, 
had proposed the independence of the colonies, the 
Assembly gave instructions which neither advised nor 
forbade a declaration of independence, but left the 
question to the '^ ability, prudence and integrity " of 
the delegates. This doubtful action proved the end 
of the Proprietary Assembly ; once only did it again 
have a quorum of its members. Instead of allowing 
the State government, ordered by Congress, May 15, 
to be formed by members of an Assembly sworn to 
support the King, the people called a provincial con- 
vention for that purpose. The Assembly instituted 
by Penn did not come to an end till the obstinacy of 
the King left no room for reconciliation. 

When, on the 1st of July, the vote on Lee's resolu- 
Lee's Resolution tlou for independence was to be taken 

Adopted jjj committee of the whole, the Pennsyl- 
vania delegation in Congress — Franklin, Dickinson, 
Morris, Wilson, Morton, Humphreys and Willing — 
were divided, and cast their vote against it. Dickin- 
son made a great speech, the burden of which was 
that the time was not yet ripe for such an important 
step. Wilson, who had held the same view before, 
could now no longer agree with Dickinson. Two 
other States — Delaware and South Carolina — voted 
nay; while New York, whose delegates did not 
receive favorable instructions till after the adoption 
of the declaration, did not vote at all. The next day, 
when the committee of the whole reported to Con- 
gress, Delaware voted aj-e ; so did South Carolina. 



The Administration of the Government 153 

Delaware's vote was changed by Caesar Rodney, who 
rode eighty miles on horseback to vote for inde- 
pendence. Dickinson and Morris remaining away, 
Pennsylvania, by the vote of Franklin, Wilson, and 
Morton, against Humphreys and Willing, was also 
enabled to say aye on " the greatest question ever 
debated in America or ever decided among men." 

The second day of July, 1776, was not destined to 
become " the most memorable epoch in the Jefferson's 
history of America." It was the fourth Declaration of 
day of July when Jeflferson's Declaration I"'*«p="^^"'=^ 
of Independence, in which he set forth the reasons for 
the act of the second of July, was passed. On the 




Interior of Independence Hall. Room in which the 
Declaration of Independence was signed. 

8th, the Declaration of Independence was read in the 
State House yard. At the same time the King's arms 
were taken from the court room and publicly burned, 
while merry chimes from the church steeples and 
peals from the State House bell " proclaimed liberty 



154 A History of Pennsylvania 

throughout the' land." The Declaration having to be 
engrossed, was not signed until August 2. As 
Dickinson, Humphreys and Willing had in the mean- 
time been succeeded in Congress by other men, their 
names do not appear among the signers of Pennsyl- 
vania, who were Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, 
Dr, Benjamin Rush, and George Clymer, of Philadel- 
phia ; George Ross, of Lancaster; James Smith, of 
York ; James Wilson, of Cumberland ; George Taylor, 
of Northampton, and John Morton, of Chester county. 
Before Dickinson left Congress, he drafted the 
Articles of Confederation, and once more distinguished 
himself by the use of his pen in behalf of his country. 
Franklin had prepared a plan of union the previous 
year, but it had been laid aside for the time being. 

Scarcely had the peals of the Liberty Bell died out, 
Washington's whcu the drums of Washington's army 
Retreat souudcd the rc treat across New Jersey, in 

the fall of 1776 (see any U. S. history). Pennsyl- 
vania was in consternation. Liberal bounties were 
offered to volunteers ; blankets and stockings were 
begged for the soldiers ; the assoeiators of Philadel- 
phia and the counties around it were urged to join 
the army, and armed boats were sent to Trenton to 
transport Washington's troops across the Delaware. 
In the midst of this excitement, Congress fled precipi- 
tately to Baltimore. But Pennsylvania's Committee 
of Safety cooperated with Washington, calling on 
every patriot "to step forth at this crisis" and re- 
inforce the depleted and disheartened army of less 
than three thousand men. The militia of Bucks, 
Northampton and adjoining counties answered the 
call promptly. 



The Administration of the Government 155 

After crossing the Delaware on his retreat, Wash- 
ington made his headquarters at Newtown, Washington 
Bucks county, while his army was sta- crossing 

tioned eight miles above Trenton, at ^ e aware 
McConkey's ferry, near Taylorsville. The Pennsyl- 
vania militia were stationed at Bristol, under Cad- 
walader, and at Morrisville, opposite Trenton, under 
Ewing. Some troops were also stationed at Yardley- 
ville and other points up the river. Washington's 
plan on the night of the ^Sth of December contem- 
plated a combined attack on Trenton by himself, 
Ewing, and Cadwalader. Ewing, owing to the ice in 
the river, made no attempt to cross it. Cadwalader, 
with honest zeal, tried it; some of the men got over, 
but the horses and artillery could not reach the land 
on account of the ice. After suffering in a driving 
snow storm for some hours, Cadwalader and his men 
returned to camp and crept into their tents, without 
fire or light. The story of Washington's crossing the 
Delaware is familiar to every school -boy. Before 
night on the 26th he had landed in Pennsylvania 
with his thousand Hessian prisoners and started them 
on their way to Philadelphia, whence they were sent 
to Lancaster and confined in barracks erected for 
the purpose. 

The Supreme Executive Council, chosen under the 
new Constitution, in February, 1777, met 

The Year 1777 

March 4, and took the reins of govern- 
ment. Thomas Wharton, Jr., was elected President, 
and as such was chief executive of the State. The 
Council of Safety was now dissolved, Franklin, its 
president, having already gone to France as one of 
the three commissioners sent by Congress to solicit 




156 A History of Pennsylvania 

aid. The year 1777 was to be a memorable one for 
Pennsylvania. Many such patriotic and heroic deeds 
as that of Robert Morris, in Philadelphia, on New 
Year's morning, and John Kelley, at Stony creek, on 
January 3 (see p. 317), were done 
before it closed. Morris went from 
house to house, in Philadelphia, rous- 
ing the people out of bed, to borrow 
money of them. Early in the day he 
sent Washington $50,000, with the 
message : "Whatever I can do shall 
..^ ^ , be done for the good of the service ; 

Thomas Wharton, Jr. _ . . ' 

if further occasional supplies of 
money are necessary, you may depend on my 
exertions, either in a public or a private capacity." 
During the summer the Whigs arrested some forty 
Tories. About half of them signed their parole, 
promising not to say or do anything against the 
United States, and then were discharged. John Penn, 
the late Governor, refused, and he was confined at 
Fredericksburg, Virginia. 

The expected attack on Philadelphia was set on 
Howe Sails ^^^^ ^^ Howc at Ncw York, July 5, where 

for he embarked his troops. On arriving at 

Philadelphia ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ Delaware, he learned of the 

chevaux-de-frize in the Delaware, and resolved to 
enter Pennsylvania by way of the Chesapeake, an- 
choring his fleet in Elk river, 54 miles from Phila- 
delphia. Congress, which had returned from Balti- 
more, made a requisition on the Executive Council 
for 4,000 militia, and ordered Washington to leave 
New Jersey and march against Howe. The comman- 
der-in-chief reached Philadelphia August 24, and 



The Administration of the Government 157 



- Ti/Miilikv''^ yi^'^ 



Brandywine 



led his troops, decorated with sprays of green and 
carrying the American flag for the first time, through 
the streets of Philadelphia, to encourage the patriots. 
Here the young Marquis de Lafayette joined the army, 
to be wounded in his first bat- 
tle. Washington hastened on to 
meet the enemy, whose two divi- 
sions had formed a juncture at 
Kennett Square, September 10. 
By a secret movement, he took 
position on the high grounds 
above Chadd's Ford, on the 
north side of the Brandywine, 

directly in Howe's path. The Betsy Ross Flag. 

Early on the morning of the 11th, the British, with 
a small part of their army under Knyphau- 
sen, made Washington believe that they 
intended to cross the Brandywine at Chadd's Ford. 
But he received information that their main body, 
under Howe and Cornwallis, 
would cross the river at a ford 
higher up. So he sent word 
to General Sullivan, second in 
command, to meet Howe and 
Cornwallis and hold them in 
check, while he himself would 
defeat Knyphausen first and 
then turn his attention to the 
main body of the enemy. Just 
as Washington was about to 
attack Knyphausen, a message came from Sullivan 
that the British were not coming from the north, 
and that therefore he had disobeyed his orders 




The Present Flag. 



158 



A History of Pennsylvania 




Birmingham Meeting House. 



But Washington had been correctly informed. Howe 
had crossed the Brandywine above the forks at Trim- 
ble's and Jefferi's fords, and soon fell upon Sullivan 
above Birmingham meeting house. Washington, leav- 
ing General 
Wayne to oppose 
Knyphausen at 
Chadd's Ford, 
hastened to the 
assistance of Sul- 
livan ; but this 
General had 
already given 
way to the unex- 
pected attack of 
the British, and was on the retreat. When Washing- 
ton came up, his own troops at first fell in with the 
fleeing soldiers of Sullivan; but Greene's corps, which 
included a division of Pennsylvanians fighting on 
their native soil, was finally planted in a posi- 
tion where it could hold its ground against the 
British till nightfall. General Wayne made a gallant 
stand against Knyphausen; but the defeat of the 
American right compelled him at last to retreat and 
abandon his cannon to the Hessian commander. 
General Greene was the last to quit the field, but not 
before darkness had made further resistance impos- 
sible. Washington's army retreated to Chester that 
night, and the next day to Germ an town. 

Howe's success on the Brandywine caused great 

Great constematiou in Philadelphia and its 

Consternation yiciuity. Church bclls wcrc sunk in tht 

river or carried away. The Liberty Bell was hidden 



The Administration of the Govermnent 159 

under the floor of Zion's Reformed church, in Allen- 
town ; the State archives were carried to Easton, while 
the State government removed to Lancaster. The 
members of Congress rose from their beds and fled 
in the night to Lancaster, and thence to York. The 
wounded in battle were sent to Ephrata and other 
places. Lafayette was cared for by the Moravians 
at Bethlehem. Many of the farmers, with their 
families and their horses and cattle, sought safety in 
the outlying counties ; and to prevent the British 
from entering Philadelphia before another blow could 
be struck, the floating bridges on the Schuylkill were 
removed. 

As soon as Washington had supplied his army at 
Germantown with provisions and ammu- The Massacre 
nition, he recrossed the Schuylkill, fol- °^ ^^°" 
lowed the Lancaster turnpike and met the British at 
Warren Tavern, a little west of Paoli ; but a heavy 
rain drenched the cartridges, and he had to retire. 
He left General Wayne, with 
1,500 men, near Paoli, to fall 
upon and to destroy Howe's 
baggage. The British learned 
of Wayne's position, and made 
a sudden attack on the camp 
in the dead of night. With the 
cry of "no quarters," they bay- 
oneted the Americans in a man- Anthony Wayne. 
ner that beggared description. 

Some of the victims passed from the sleep of night 
into the sleep of eternity without waking. The loss 
was heavy to bear, and opened the way to Philadel- 
phia for the British. 




160 A History of Pennsylvania 

The massacre of Paoli occurred on the uight of 
Howe Takes thc 20th. By scvcral skilful manoeuvers, 
Philadelphia Howc, OH the night of the 23d, crossed 
the Schujdkill below Valley Forge, and took pos- 
session of Philadelphia on the 26th. The American 
army, too weak to offer any resistance, encamped at 
Skippack creek, north of Germantown. The fact 
that Washington did not prevent Howe from cross- 
ing the Schuylkill was the chief ground on which, 
the following winter, his enemies sought to have him 
removed. Even John Adams cried out in despair 
after the massacre at Paoli : " O, Heaven grant us 
one great soul ! One leading mind would extri- 
cate the best cause from that ruin which seems to 
await it ! " 

Howe constructed a line of redoubts from the 
Howe in Dclawarc to the Schuylkill, along the 

Philadelphia prescut liucs of Poplar, Green and Cal- 
lowhill streets. He also posted a strong force at 
Germantown, extending from the mouth of the Wissa- 
hickon to the Old York road. Washington broke 
camp on the evening of October 3, and arrived at Ger- 
mantown at 3 o'clock on the morning of the 4th. 
General Armstrong, with the Pennsylvania militia, 
moved along the banks of the Schuylkill, to fall 
upon the Hessians at the mouth of the Wissahickon. 
Wayne and Sullivan went down the main street of 
Germantown to attack the British at Market Square. 
Greene followed a circuitous route by way of the 
lime kiln road, to attack the right wing of the 
enemy and drive them in upon the center at the 
same time that Wayne and Sullivan would attack 
them in front. 



Germantown 




The Administration of the Government 161 

The battle was to begin on all quarters precisely 
at 5 o'clock. Armstrong could not drive 
the Hessians from their position and get in 
the rear of the British center, as was intended. 
Wayne and Sullivan, however, forced Howe's center 
at Market Square into confusion, so that the British 
commander had to cry, " For shame, light infantry ! 
I never saw you re- 
treat before. Form ! 
form ! it is only 
a scouting party." 
Colonel Musgrove 
quickly took posses- 
sion of the large and 
strong stone mansion 
of Chief Justice 
Chew, and used it as 
a fort to check the advance of Wayne, whose memories 
of Paoli found expression in the cry, " Have it at the 
bloodhounds ! Revenge ! Revenge ! " Not willing 
" to leave an enemy in a fort Lin the rear," the 
Americans tried in vain to set the mansion on fire 
and batter it down with cannon balls. This diver- 
sion gave the English time to form for battle and 
get reinforcements from Philadelphia. When Greene 
arrived, almost an hour late, he was outflanked, and, 
after fifteen minutes of heavy firing, was driven back. 
Though Washington had placed a regiment around 
Chew's mansion, with orders not to cannonade it 
again, one of Greene's divisions opened fire on it 
once more. This occurring in the rear of Wayne's 
division, he mistook it for the enemy's fire, and 
retreated in great haste. An early morning fog 



The Chew Mansion. 



K 



162 A History of Pennsylvania 

added greatly to the confusion. At about half -past 
eight, Washington, seeing that the day was lost, 
ordered a retreat, which w^as made in perfect order, to 
Perkiomen creek. 

The forts and vessels commanding the Delaware 
The Forts on wcrc ucxt attacked by General Howe, in 
the Delaware ^^.^qj. ^q ^q^ ^j^g flgg|^ uudcr his brothcr. 

Admiral Howe, to Philadelphia. There were three 
forts — Mif&in, Mercer, and Billingsport. Between 
these forts were stretched the chevaux-de-frize, and 
above lay the American fleet. Billingsport had been 
abandoned to the enemy before the battle of German- 
town, and on the 22d of October a body of Hessians, 
aided by the British fleet, made an assault on Fort 
Mercer. They were repulsed, with the loss of 400 men, 
who lay in heaps around the fort. Howe's men-of- 
war were equally unsuccessful, having been driven 
down the river by Commodore Hazle wood's Penn- 
sylvania State fleet. The attack on Fort Mifflin was 
heroically resisted for six long days and nights, until 
palisades, parapets and blockhouses had been leveled 
to the ground and 250 of its 300 defenders had been 
killed and wounded. The fort was then burned and 
the garrison removed to Red Bank. With the fall 
of Fort Mifflin, Fort Mercer had to be abandoned also. 
The State fleet succeeded in stealing past the city at 
night into the upper waters of the Delaware, but the 
Continental fleet was less fortunate, and had to be 
set on fire and burned. 

Howe's fleet now came up the Delaware and took 
"The Battle a posltlou iu frout of Philadelphia. On 
ofvheKegs" January 5, 1778, the men of the Penn- 
sylvania fleet executed a scheme to destroy it. A 



The Administration of the Government 163 

number of machines resembling kegs were prepared 
at Burlington and placed in the river, to be carried 
down by the current. The kegs had spring locks so 
contrived as to explode on coming in contact with a 
vessel. Unfortunately the British fleet kept close to 
the wharves at the time to avoid the ice. As the' 
kegs moved past the city, broadside after broadside! 
was hurled at them. Every chip, stick, or drift -log 
felt the vigor of the British guns. The aifair was 
most ludicrous. Francis Hopkinson ridiculed it in a 
ballad entitled " The Battle of the Kegs." 

Washington, though reinforced- by troops from 
Gates' army, chose the .defensive in his 

X TTTi -^ TiT 1 TT 1 Valley Forge 

strong camp at Wnite Marsn. Here he 
was attacked by Howe, December 4. After a skirmish 
with the Pennsylvania militia and a sharp action at 
Edge Hill, the British retired to Philadelphia without 
" driving General Washington over the Blue moun- 
tain," as Howe had threatened to do. And then be- 
gan a chapter in Pennsylvania history whose events 
make the spot on which they transpired most sacred. 
Valley Forge ! The American army reached this 
place about the 19th of December. It is a deep, 
rugged hollow on the west side of the Schuylkill, 
about six miles above Norristown. The soldiers were 
too poorly clad to live in tents; so huts, 16x14, in 
the form of a village, were made with logs, and 
twelve men were assigned to each cabin. 

Washington reported that when the army went 
into camp at Valley Forge "no less than 

^ .7 fc. ^j^g Sufferings 

2,898 men were unfit for duty because 

they were barefoot and otherwise naked." They often 

sat up all night by the fires to keep warm. There 



164 



A History of Pennsylvania 




Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge. 



was a scarcity of provisions, the soldiers being with- 
out meat or bread for days at a time. Washington 
had to issue a proclamation, commanding that one- 
half of the grain in store within seventy miles of 

his camp should be 
threshed out before the 
1st of February and 
the other half before 
the 1st of March. The 
British gold at Phila- 
delphia was more de- 
sirable than the Conti- 
nental bills, and so 
many farmers sent 
their provisions to 
Howe. Horses and 
wagons being scarce, 
the patriots yoked themselves to little wagons of 
their own making, or, like beggars, carried their 
wood and provisions on the back. Even straw to 
lay on the cold, wet earth in the cabins was wanting. 
There was no lack of provisions and clothing in the 
country ; but by mismanagement in Congress the army 
was not supplied with them. Washington felt most 
keenly for his men, a fact well attested by the praj^er 
which he sent to the throne of heaven from his head- 
quarters in the house of Isaac Potts. Added to these 
trials was the famous plot of General Conway, the 
attempt to alienate Lafayette, and the clamor of Con- 
gress and the Assembly of Pennsylvania to drive the 
British out of Philadelphia. But Washington never 
shrank from the cause of American liberty as it lay 
helpless and groaning in Valley Forge. 



The Administration of the Government 165 

While the Americans were experiencing all this 
suffering, Howe's army had one long Howe's winter 
round of pleasure in Philadelphia. The in Philadelphia 
days were spent in pastime and the nights in enter- 
tainments. As Franklin said, '^ Howe did not take 
Philadelphia — Philadelphia took Howe." The officers 
played cricket and had cock-fights. A theater was 
established on South street. Major Andre painted the 
curtain, and was the soul of the enterprise. But quite 
different was the lot of the American prisoners of war 
in Walnut street jail ! It was a veritable Libby or 
Andersonville ; and its keeper — Cunningham — was 
the original of Marz. The treatment was cruel, the 
food was not fit for swine, and the dead were 
tumbled into pits in Washington Square, to mingle 
with the bones of Indians, paupers, and criminals, 
who had been buried there in the past. In the 
spring Howe was superseded by Clinton ; and the 
officers gave a grand fete to the departing General. 
It was the famous mischianza — "a combination of 
the regatta, the tournament, the banquet and the 
ball." It was enacted at the country seat of Thomas 
Wharton, in South wark, and began in the afternoon 
of the 18th of May with a grand regatta, which 
started down the Delaware from the foot of Green 
street and landed at the foot of Washington avenue. 
Here the procession of gay officers, beautiful ladies, 
and prominent citizens, headed by all the bands of 
the army, formed in line and marched between grena- 
diers and troopers up the slope to Wharton's man- 
sion. Then followed a tournament. The festivities 
of the evening consisted of dancing, faro, fireworks, 
and feasting ! and lasted until the sun came up over 



166 A History of Pennsylvania 

the Jerseys. Once, while this revelry was at its 
height, the sound of cannon was heard in the north. 
The English officers explained to their frightened part- 
ners in the dance that it was a part of the ceremony. 
But it was not. A dashing fellow from Washington's 
army, hearing of the mischianza, took a squad of men 
in the darkness to the line of redoubts between the 
Delaware and the Schuylkill, painted everything within 
reach with tar, and, at a given signal, set it on fire. 
The flames that shot up all along Poplar street 
startled Howe's army, and every cannon from river to 
river was fired. The British cavalry dashed out into 
the night, but the daring Americans were nowhere to 
be found. 

Six days after this pageant of folly. Sir Henry 
Philadelphia Clintou dccidcd to evacuate Philadelphia. 
Evacuated rj^j^g British Icamcd that the American 
capital was not of much importance to them after 
all. The Congress had fled on wheels, and Pennsyl- 
vania had remained loj^al. Washington's army, now 
thoroughly drilled by Baron Steuben, a Prussian 
officer who had come to Valley Forge in February, 
became a source of danger to the British. Besides, 
a French fleet was on the way to New York, and that 
city required the presence of Clinton. Just before 
the evacuation, on the 18th of June, three peace com- 
missioners from England arrived in Philadelphia, and 
were willing to gratify "every wish that America 
had expressed." But it was too late. Franklin and 
his associates had secured an alliance with France; 
and the American Congress refused to entertain such 
propositions. It is said that Joseph Reed, one of 
Pennsylvania's delegates in Congress, was offered 



The Administration of the Government 167 

10,000 pounds sterling and the best office in the 
colonies if he would promote the plans for peace; but 
that he promptly replied: "I am not worth purchas- 
ing ; but such as I am, the King of Great Britain is 
not rich enough to do it." Clinton's army crossed 
the Delaware at Camden and Gloucester, New Jersey, 
in great haste; while the fleet, with several thousand 
Tory refugees and all their possessions on board, 
floated slowly down the bay. "The sky sparkled with 
stars; the air of the summer night was soft and 
tranquil, as the exiles, broken in fortune and with-, 
out a career, w^ent with despair from the only city 
they could love.'' 

Washington moved his army out of Valley Forge, 
followed Clinton, and soon afterwards Washington 
fought the battle of Monmouth, where foiiows ciinton 
Mollie Pitcher, of Carlisle, made herself famous. 
General Arnold was put in command of Philadelphia, 
to prevent the disorders that were expected to follow 
when the Whigs would return. Congress came back 
from York June 25, and the State government, from 
Lancaster, the next day. Wharton having died, 
George Bryan, Vice-President of the Supreme Execu- 
tive Council, performed the duties of the President. 
The Whigs now began to punish the Tories. The 
Assembly passed an "act for the attainder of divers 
traitors," among whom were Joseph Galloway, Rev. 
Jacob Duche, and the Aliens. The Quakers and 
the German sects were special objects of suspicion 
because they thought it wrong to take up arms. 
Active measures were taken for the trial of all 
persons ac<3used of high treason; but only a few were 
executed. The excitement during the trial ran very 



168 



A History of Pennsylvania 



pgs Wyoming 



high ; and Arnold, who himself was afterwards court- 
martialed for lawless conduct while in command of 

Philadelphia, was not able to 
repress the disorder that arose. 
He speculated in government 
contracts, grew rich, and hob- 
nobbed with the aristocracy, 
marrying one of its daughters 
before " he fled from inquiry." 
The year 1778 is re- 
membered in Penn- 
sylvania by one other 
event — the Wyoming Mas- 
sacre. After Burgoyne's sur- 
render the British organized 
the Tories and Indians to make 
war upon the frontiers of New 
York, Pennsylvania and Vir- 
ginia. It was assumed, and 
correctly so, that the Ameri- 
cans could not give much 
attention to the frontier, be- 
cause all their available forces would be required to 
oppose Howe after he had entered Pennsylvania. So 
the savages were set loose like hounds to murder and 
devastate. In the month of June the people of 
Wyoming became aware of the approach of a large 
force of Tories and Indians, under Colonel John 
Butler. An appeal for help was made to Con- 
gress, as nearly all the able-bodied men of Wj'oming 
were in the Continental army; but no help came. So 
when the enemy appeared in the valley, Colonel 
Zebulon Butler, of the Revolutionary army, who was 




Provincial Court House at York 
where Congress sat, 1777-78. 



The Administration of the Government 169 



home on a furlough, had only about three hundred 
raw recruits to oppose the enemy. Many people, with 
their families, had collected at Forty Fort, a little 
above the present site of Kingston. Here, on the 3d 
of July, Colonel Zebulon Butler, with Colonel Den- 
nison second in command, started his little band to 
meet a force three times as large. 

The engagement began late in the afternoon. At 
first the fight was spirited on both sides ; but the 
men of Wyoming could not long resist the superior 
numbers. An order to fall back to a better position 
was misunderstood as a signal for retreat. The 
enemy then sprang forward, sounded the war-whoop 
from one end of the line to the other, rushed in with 
the tomahawk and spear, and defeated the brave band 
of heroic farmers. Only about fifty escaped, while 
those who did not fall in battle were put to death on 
the field in the most cruel manner. The refugees in 
Forty Fort, consisting 
of old men, women 
and children, were 
allowed to depart to 
their homes. But the 
Indians soon began to .^| 
rob, burn, plunder and 
destroy in every direc- 
tion, in spite of an 
agreement that they 
would not. In a week 
or ten days these dep- 
redations became so 
numerous and heartrending that all the settlers who 
could get away, fled. Some came to Sunbury ; others 




The Wyoming Mouument. 



170 A History of Pennsylvania 

went to New York and Connecticut ; but most of 
them took refuge in the wilderness of the Pokono 
mountains, and finally reached Stroudsburg. Those 
who sought safety in these mountains had nothing 
to eat except whortleberries. Some perished in a 
great swamp, which has ever since been known as 
"The Shades of Death." 

The Wyoming massacre was not the only one in 
Pennsylvania in the war of the Revolu- 

Other Massacres . "^ . , „ . 

tion. From 1777 to 1784, the frontiers 
of the State were one vast region of bloody mas- 
sacres. Immediately after that of Wyoming, the wild, 
precipitate flight, known as the "Great Runaway," 
occurred in the valley of the West Branch. All 
summer the tomahawk and scalping knife had been 
doing their deadly work there, and when the news of 
the massacre on the North Branch arrived, the West 
Branch above Sunbury and Northumberland was 
abandoned by the settlers. Boats, canoes, hog- 
troughs, rafts, and every sort of floating things, were 
crowded with women and children. The men came 
down in single file, on each side of the river, and 
acted as guards. Sunbury became a frontier town, and 
the country below — Harris Ferry, Paxtang, and Mid- 
dletown — was filled with the unfortunate refugees. 
Bedford and Westmoreland counties and the country 
about Pittsburg were likewise sorely afflicted at this 
time. A regiment of Continental troops was despatched 
from Valley Forge some time in the spring for the 
relief of the western frontier. Most of these soldiers 
had enlisted from beyond the mountains early in the 
war, and they were now glad to go back to defend their 
wives and childi-en. The next year Sullivan's expedi- 



The Administration of the Government 171 

tion started from Easton, and marched by way of 
Wyoming into the country of the Six Nations, in New 
York. He defeated an army of Tories and Indians, 
and destroyed many Indian villages. But the punish- 
ment had no lasting effect. The ravages continued. 
Other expeditions were organized, notably at Fort 
Pitt ; and the border warfare raged until 1784. 

On December 1, 1778, General Joseph Reed was 
elected President of the Council and chief Paper Money 
executive of the State. He went into office Troubles 
at a time when Pennsylvania, in common with the 
other colonies, suffered greatly from the depreciation 
of the Continental money. The State, too, had issued 
paper money. There was about four times as much 
in circulation as was needed for the transaction of 
business, and prices were high and fluctuating. These 
conditions were very favorable for speculators, and a 
law was passed fixing the price of certain articles, to 
destroy speculation, and laying em- 
bargoes on the exportation of goods 
needed by the people. But these 
measures gave little relief. The 
militia at one time marched down 
Chestnut street, posting placards 
against Morris, Wilson, and others 
suspected of being speculators. At ^^^^^^ ^^^^ 
Wilson's house they stopped and killed 
the captain of the guard, and broke into the hallway, 
where for a time there was stabbing and clubbing. 

The question of slavery, which had periodically 
Slavery disturbed the ruling class in Pennsylvania 
Abolished gygj, gince Pastorius' protest in 1688, came 
up now for final settlement, early in 1780. The 




172 A Sistory of Pennsylvania 

Friends, in their quarterly and yearly meetings, had 
repeatedly advised against importing and purchasing 
negroes. As early as 1705, a duty was imposed on 
slave importation. In 1711 it was forbidden alto- 
gether, but the Privy Council in England quashed the 
act. The following year, upon petition " signed by 
many hands," the Assembly assessed 20 pounds a head 
on imported negroes,, thinking so high a duty would 
be prohibitory ; but the act was again vetoed by the 
Crown. A letter written by a merchant in 1715 to 
an importer in Jamaica says : " I must entreat you to 
send me no more negroes for sale, for our people 
don't care to buy them. They are generally against 
any coming into the country." Yet, in spite of all 
opposition, it was the common incident of the day 
before the Revolution to vend blacks of both sexes 
at public sale, at the coffee houses in Philadelphia. 
Family servants were sent to jail to get their dozen 
lashes for acts of insubordination. But the laws regu- 
lating their conduct and punishment were always 
humane. They enjoyed as much liberty as their 
masters, were as well fed and as well clad, and gen- 
erally lived under the same roof. The final movement 
for the abolition of slavery was made in 1779 by the 
Supreme Executive Council, in their message to the 
Assembly : 

" Honored will that State be in the annals of mankind 
which shall first abolish this violation of the rights of man- 
kind ; and the memories of those will be held in grateful and 
everlasting remembrance who shall pass the law to restore 
and establish the rights of human nature in Pennsylvania." 

On the 1st of March, 1780, George Bryan, ex-Vice 
President of the State, now a member of the As- 



The Administration of the Government 173 

sembly, presented a bill for the gradual abolition of 
slavery in Pennsylvania, and urged its passage with 
great earnestness. It passed by a vote of 34 to 21. 
By its operation there were 3,737 slaves left in the 
State in 1790, 1,706 in lj800, 795 in 1810, 211 in 
1820, and 67 in 1830. 

The Assembly about this time made another effort 
to relieve the people from the withering The Death 
blight of the Continental paper money. of the 

It tried to redeem it by taxation at the Continentals 
rate of 1 to 40. But neither this nor any other 
measure prevented the coinage of the phrase, " It is 
not worth a Continental." To assist Congress in pro- 
viding for the army, Robert Morris and other finan- 
ciers of the State established the Bank of Pennsyl- 
vania, the first bank in America. The last attempt 
to prolong the life of the " Continentals " was made 
hy the Executive Council in May, 1781 ; but the rem- 
edy proved fatal. Pelatiah Webster said of the pro- 
ceedings : " Thus fell, ended and died the Conti- 
nental currency, aged six years." 

The opening of the year 1781 brought President 
Reed face to face with a very serious The Revolt at 
problem. The Pennsylvania Line, in Momstown 

Washington's army at Morristown, had for some 
time been dissatisfied with the treatment they were 
receiving at the hands of Congress. Some had been 
kept in the army beyond their time of enlistment ; all 
had arrearages of pay due them ; and the money they 
had received was worthless. On New Year's day the 
Line broke out into open revolt and left the camp 
for Princeton. Here they were met by two spies, who 
tried to induce them to join the British army, but 



174 A History of Pennsylvania 

these were handed over to Washington and executed. 
When Wayne, their commander, met the Pennsyl- 
vanians at Princeton, he proposed that they reduce 
their grievances to writing. This being done, Presi- 
dent Reed and a committee of Congress set out to 
meet them. Before entering their camp, Reed sent a 
note to Wayne, asking whether it was safe for him 
to go within the picket line of the insurgents. Their 
committee replied that he need have no fear, that 
the whole Line was anxious to have him settle the 
unhappy affair. After a hard -fought battle of words 
the difficulty was amicably settled by Reed ; and the 
Pennsylvania Line marched to Virginia to take a 
most honorable part in the closing battles of the 
Revolution. When offered a reward for delivering 
up the two spies, they refused it, saying : " Our 
necessities compelled us to demand justice from our 
government; we ask no reward for doing our duty to 
our country against its enemies." 

The revolt of the Pennsylvania Line at Morris- 
compiete towu was au evidcuce of the complete 

Exhaustion cxhaustiou of rcsourccs for the Revolu- 
tion. But none of the States was more 
thoroughly di^ained than Pennsjdvania. This State 
was not only the residence of Congress, with all its 
train of attendants and officers, but also of all the 
military mechanism of the country. From it the 
quartermaster principally di-ew his wagons, his horses, 
his camp equipage of all kinds, besides a great num- 
ber of wagoners and artificers. Prisoners of war and 
state had been largely the inheritance of Pennsyl- 
vania. All this was done at great expense to the 
State, and burdened it with a heavy load of debt. 




The Administration of the Government 175 

The substance of the people had been used, but in 
its place they had nothing but money made of rags. 
Pennsylvania's share of the supplies asked for by 
Congress in 1781, was equal in amount to eleven 
years' taxes and all the income of the State. 

Reed's successor as President of the Supreme Ex- 
ecutive Council was Vice-President William Moore, who 
entered upon his duties in November, 
1781. Early the next year, Pennsyl- 
vania joined with Congress in charter- 
ing the Bank of North America, by 
which Robert Morris, the superintendent 
of finances for the Continental Con- 
gress, was enabled to restore the credit 
of the United States and transact its wmiam Moore. 
financial affairs with greater efficiency. It was the 
first incorporated bank in America, and it still exists. 

Dickinson, having returned from his six years' so- 
journ in Delaware, whither he had gone congress Leaves 
after his defeat for reelection to Con- Philadelphia 
gress, soon regained his popularity. He was elected 
a member of the Supreme Executive Council in No- 
vember, 1782, and became its President. The Execu- 
tive Council, in April following, proclaimed the news 
that the preliminary treaty had been signed, and or- 
dered the State flag to be hoisted and the bells to be 
rung. The prisoners of war confined in barracks at 
Carlisle, Lancaster and Reading were brought to Phil- 
adelphia and sent to New York. The chevaux-de- 
frize were removed from the Delaware, that the white 
wings of commerce might again flutter over its waters. 
But before the Quaker City could fully enjoy peace, 
a number of officers and soldiers of the Pennsylvania 




I 



176 A History of Pennsylvania 

Line, in June, came from Lancaster and were joined 
by others, to demand of the Council and Congress a 
settlement of their accounts. Their demands were so 
insolent that the Council rejected 
them. Congress urged that the 
militia be called out to disarm 
the insurgents, but Dickinson did 
not favor a step so serious. Then 
jlPl Congress resolved to leave, and 
adjourned to meet at Princeton. 
The leaders in this unfortunate 

The State Flag. ^ . ^ j j l 

affair were arrested and court- 
martialed. Two sergeants were sentenced to be shot 
and others were to be flogged. All were subsequently 
pardoned. The Assembly and the people of Phila- 
delphia urged Congress to return, promising ample 
protection if it would do justice to the army and 
public creditors. But it resumed its sessions at 
Annapolis. 

Peace being now assured, the State authorities 
Problems tumcd their attention to the restoration of 
of Peace trade and industry. Commissioners were ap- 
pointed to estimate the cost of opening a communica- 
tion by means of roads and canals between the 
Susquehanna and the Schuylkill. The islands in the 
Delaware were divided between New Jersey and 
Pennsylvania, according to proximity, and distributed 
among the several counties along the river. The two 
States were to have concurrent jurisdiction between 
the banks. The Council of Censors, with Frederick 
A. Muhlenberg as president, held its first and only 
septennial session November 10, 1783, to September 
24, 1784. 



The Administration of the Government 111 

After the State government had been formed, laws 
were passed in 1777 requiring the oath of 
allegiance of all persons above eighteen years 
of age, in order to enjoy " the blessings of liberty and 
citizenship." It was a test of loyalty to the Ameri- 
can cause, and those who refused to take it were re- 
garded as Tories. Some of these did sympathize with 
Great Britain ; but others declined to take the oath 
on account of religious scruples. This class included 
many people of means, who paid heavy taxes, directly 
or indirectly, and were peaceable and inoffensive dur- 
ing every stage of the Revolution. It was estimated 
that nearly half of the inhabitants were deprived of 
citizenship. In some places the number of persons 
qualified to hold office was insufficient to administer 
the local government. The agitation to repeal the 
test laws began in 1784, but was fruitless until 1789, 
when all disfranchised persons were restored to 
citizenship, and foreigners alone were required to take 
an oath of allegiance. 

Franklin returned in 1785 from his nine years' 
service in Europe. He was soon after Frankiin President 
elected to the Executive .Council and of Pennsylvania 
made its President. He thus became the chief execu- 
tive of Pennsylvania at the extreme age of eighty 
years, serving until 1788. It was a singular coinci- 
dence that during the first year of the great scientist's 
administration, numerous applications were made to 
the Assembly for aid by scientific inventors. One 
had made a crucible from blue-stone ; another wanted 
to convert bar -iron into steel ; still another had a 
machine to clean wheat and make it into flour ; a 
fourth asked encouragement in the making of i\x\m^ 



178 A History of Pennsylvania 

bellows for blacksmiths ; while John -Fitch asked for 
the exclusive rights of steam navigation in Penn- 
sylvania. Three years later one of his improved 
steam -packets carried passengers regularly for three 
months, from Philadelphia to Burlington, N. J. 

In 1787, Philadelphia again became the scene of 
The constitu- a great Federal event — the formation 
tionai Convention ^^f ^]^q Coustitution of the United States. 
The Constitutional Convention went into session May 
25, in the State House, and after a stormy session 
of four months, ended its labors September 17. The 
delegates from Pennsylvania were all from Phila- 
delphia — Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifilin, Robert 
Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitz Simons, Jared 
IngersoU, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris. 
John Dickinson represented the State of Delaware. 
Pennsylvania's delegation was the largest. Of its 
eight members, the venerable President of Pennsyl- 
vania, Benjamin Franklin, now eighty -one years old, 
was the Nestor of the convention. The Doctor's 
speeches, on account of his physical 
infirmities, were read by his col- 
league, Mr, Wilson. It was Frank- 
lin who proposed daily prayers in 
the convention, and urged a spirit 
of conciliation when the contest 
about representation in Congress 
waxed hot, saying, "We are here 

James WUson. tO COUSUlt, UOt tO COUteud." He 

advocated representation in Congress based on popula- 
tion; he opposed property qualification for representa- 
tives ; and he was always a power when he spoke. 
While the members were signing their names, Franklin, 




The Administration of the Government 179 

looking towards President Washington's chair, on 
the back of which was cut a sun, said to those 
around him: "I have often and often, in the course 
of the session, and in the solicitude of my hopes and 
fears as to its issue, looked at that figure behind the 
President without being able to tell whether it was 
the rising or the setting sun. Now I know it is the 
rising sun." Mifflin, though saying but little, was 
prominent and influential as a general of the Rev- 
olution and a member of Congress. Robert Morris 
proposed General Washington as president of the 
convention and was well known to the members as 
the great financier of the Revolution. Clymer was 
one of the members who had the honor of having 
signed the Declaration of Independence; he made a 
number of speeches and, with Sherman, of Connec- 
ticut, was instrumental in keeping the term slaves 
out of the Constitution of the United States. Fitz 
Simons was a rich merchant, and objected to the 
prohibition of a tax on exports. Ingersoll, a leading 
lawyer, took little part, but afterwards acquired a 
national reputation. James Wilson was the best -read 
lawyer on the floor. Whatever of Blackstone went 
into the Constitution was tested by him. Gouver- 
neur Morris has credit for more remarks and speeches 
than any other member of the convention except 
Madison. As chairman of the Committee on Arrange- 
ment and Style, Morris deserves the credit for the 
clear and simple language of the Constitution. Dickin- 
son stood for the interests of the small States, and 
his advocacy secured the equality of representation in 
the Senate. He drafted the section providing for the 
formation of new States from parts of old ones. 



180 A History of Pennsylvania 

While the .thirty -nine members of the convention 
Pennsylvania ^ere signing the Constitution on the 
Acts on the aftemoon of the 17th of September, in 
Constitution ^ j^^^^ ^^^^^ ^f ^^^ g^^^^ House, the 

Pennsylvania Assembly sat in a room above ; and 
there, early the next morning, the document was 
read two days before Congress, in session in New 
York, received it. The press of Philadelphia pub- 
lished it on the 19 th, and everybody praised 
''The New Roof" at first. Congress sent it to the 
States for ratification on the 28th. The Pennsylvania 
Assembly was to adjourn sine die the next day. The 
members friendly to the Constitution determined that 
a convention to adopt it should be called before 
adjournment. On the same day that Congress took 
its final action, and without knowing what that 
action was, George Clymer moved in the Assembly 
that a convention meet in Philadelphia to consider 
the adoption of the new constitution. The motion 
carried by a vote of 43 to 19 ; but before fixing the 
time and manner of election, the Assembly took a 
recess, to meet in the afternoon. As it took 46 to 
make a quorum, the 19 opposed to the convention 
remained away after the recess ; and the Assembly 
had to adjourn until the next morning. The action 
of Congress having now become known, it was sup- 
posed that the opposition of the nineteen would give 
way ; but it did not. A quorum had to be secured 
by dragging the members from Franklin and Dauphin 
counties — McCalmont and Miley — from their lodg- 
ings to the State House. With clothes torn into 
shreds and faces white with rage, the two men were 
made to sit in their places until the call for the con- 



The Administration of the Government 181 

vention was complete. Thus it happened that Pennsyl- 
vania called a convention to consider the Federal Con- 
stitution twenty hours after the Congress in New York 
had agreed to submit it to the States, and twelve 
days after it had been finished by the convention. 
The violent course of the Assembly, combined with 

about a dozen objections to the Constitu- Pennsylvania 

tion, made the campaign for the election Adopts the 
of delegates very fierce. Wilson was the Constitution 
champion on the side of the Federalists. He made 
a powerful speech in favor of adoption in the State 
House yard. " Centinel," who wrote letters for the 
newspapers, took the opposite side, and was often 
abusive, not even sparing Washington and Franklin. 
Robert Morris was " Bobby, the Cofferer ; " Mifflin, 
"Tommy, the Quartermaster - General ;" Gouverneur 
Morris, " Gouvera, the cunning man." The conven- 
tion met at the State House November 21, with 
Frederick A. Muhlenberg as chairman. The Fed- 
eralists had won 2 to 1; for the Constitution was 
ratified December 12, by a vote of 46 to 23. The 
members comprised some of the best -known men — 
Thomas McKean, Benjamin Rush, and James Wilson, 
of Philadelphia ; Anthony Wayne, of Chester ; Abra- 
ham Lincoln, of Berks ; Timothy Pickering, of 
Luzerne ; William Findley, of Westmoreland ; and 
Frederick Muhlenberg, of Montgomery. Those oppos- 
ing the Constitution did so largely because it was in 
many ways different from their own State constitu- 
tion. The latter had been the work of men from 
the frontier counties in 1776 ; and the representa- 
tives of these counties were generally the ones that 
opposed the Federal Constitution. 



182 A History of Pennsylvania 

Pennsylvania being the second State to ratify, there 
The Affair was not much demonstration made at the 
at Carlisle ^[j^q g^^ when, on the 21st of Jmie, 
1788, New Hampshire, the ninth State, ratified it, 
Philadelphia and other towns resolved to celebrate 
the new Union on the 4th of July. The enthusiasm 
was unbounded, but generally peaceable. A serious 
riot broke out right after the ratification, in the town 
of Carlisle. Thomas McKean and James Wilson were 
burned in effigy, cannon were spiked, and a copy of 
the Constitution was burned. 

The " New Roof " being up and Pennsylvania 
Opposition under it, the anti- Federalists met in con- 
Ends vention at Harrisburg for the purpose of 
suggesting certain amendments. Twelve were pro- 
posed and recommended to the Assembly for submis- 
sion to Congress. This action ended all opposition 
in Pennsylvania to the Constitution. Fifteen amend- 
ments had also been presented by the anti -Federalists 
in the Philadelphia convention. They were drawn 
up by Robert Whitehill, of Cumberland county, and 
were remarkable as being almost identical with the 
first ten amendments afterwards added to the Con- 
stitution. It is supposed that Madison, who pre- 
pared the amendments for Congress in 1789, made 
use of those offered by the anti -Federalists of Penn- 
sylvania. 

Benjamin Franklin, having declined a reelection on 
President accouut of old age, was succeeded as Presi- 
^""^" dent of the State, in November, 1789, by 

General Thomas Mifflin. In January following, the 
first election for Presidential electors was held, and in 
April, Philadelphia gave a royal welcome to Wash- 




The Administration of the Government 183 

ington, the first President of the United States, as he 
passed through on his way to New York. The float- 
ing bridge at Gray^s Ferry was so 
elaborately decorated that the pass- 
age over the Schuylkill seemed like 
that along a green lane. Arches 
of laurel spanned each end ; and 
just as the carriage of the Presi- 
dent passed under the western 
arch a laurel wreath was lowered _ ,,.^. 

Thomas Mifflm. 

upon his brow by a child clad 

in white. After a banquet and fourteen toasts, 

Washington resumed his journey. 

A new constitution having been adopted in 1790, 
the last President of the State under the Governor 
old, General Miflin, was elected the first m""^" 

Governor under the new. He served three successive 
terms, until 1.799. With his administration began the 
system of internal improvements for which the State 
became noted. The funding of the national debt, the 
national bank, the impost, the excise — all tended to 
make money plentiful. The favorite form of improve- 
ment all over the country was the canal. In Penn- 
sylvania, the Delaware, Schuylkill and Susquehanna 
were to be made navigable and connected with one 
another by means of canals. This eastern system was 
then to be linked in the same way to the waters of 
the Allegheny, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The 
Legislature also recommended a turnpike from Phila- 
delphia to Lancaster, as well as roads in other parts 
of the State. To facilitate these schemes of internal 
improvement, companies were chartered by authority 
of the State. So many more shares were subscribed 



184 A History of Pennsylvania 

in some of them than were authorized by law, that 
the names of the purchasers were put into a wheel, 
and enough drawn out to form the company. 

The Federal government having gone into the 
banking business at Carpenters' Hall, Phila- 

State Banks 

delphia, in 1791, through the establishment 
of the famous Bank of the United States, Pennsyl- 
vania followed the example in 1793. The Legislature 
chartered the Bank of Pennsylvania, and the State 
took one -third of the entire stock. Branches were estab- 
lished at Lancaster, Harrisburg, Reading, Easton and 
Pittsburg. The State continued the partnership for 
fifty years. 

In 1793, the yellow fever appeared in Philadelphia. 
The Yellow It lastcd from August to November, and 
Fever Carried off about five thousand people. 

The streets were deserted by all except those who 
buried the dead. Exposed coffins on chair -wheels 
were constantly in sight, but no mourners accompa- 
nied them. The dead were hurriedlj^ laid in large 
pits, which would receive many before filling up. 
Some 17,000 persons left the city, or one -third 
of the population. Germaiitown was a favorite place 
for the fugitives. Both the State and the United 
States governments moved their offices to that town. 

THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD 

In March, 1791, Congress laid a tax of 25 cents a 
The Whisky gallou Oil w^luskj^ mauufacturcd in the 
Insurrection United Statcs. At that time the Mississippi 
was not yet open to the Americans for transporta- 
tion ; hence the farmers around Pittsburg had no 



The Administration of the Government 185 

outlet for their grain. So they turned it into 
whisky, which found a market nearer home. The 
inhabitants of that section had an inborn hatred for 
excise taxes. . Their Scotch -Irish ancestors had re- 
sisted such taxes in Ireland. Moreover, the Revolu- 
tion had been fought without a tax by the United 
States government ; and the pioneers beyond the 
mountains could not understand why one was neces- 
sary now. So in September, 1791, when a collector 
appeared in Washington county, he was fiercely as- 
saulted and had to flee for his life. About the same 
time delegates from Fayette, Allegheny, Westmore- 
land and Washington counties met in Pittsburg and 
passed resolutions against the excise. Resistance more 
or less violent was made against the collection of the 
tax for several years, but no blood was shed until 
July 16, 1794. Then the house of the inspector. 
General Neville, was surrounded by a company of 
militia, and one of their number was killed by the 
shots that were exchanged. The next day Neville's 
house and barn were burned, but not until the leader 
of the militia. Major McFarlane, a veteran of the 
Revolution, had been shot by the occupants. The 
death of McFarlane greatly incensed the people, and 
a mass -meeting was held on Braddock's Field, August 
1. It was resolved to march to Pittsburg, where the 
Federal collectors had their headquarters. Fearing 
the town would be burned by the " Whisky Boys," 
the people sent a committee out to reason with them. 
By the tact of Judge Brackenridge^ who preferred " the 
loss of four barrels of old whisky to the loss of a 
quart of blood," they were led through the town and 
out of it again without doing any harm. 




186 A History of Pennsylvania 

Pittsburg was saved by a " free treat," but the 
Federal government, as well as that of 

An Army Raised ■, r-, 

the State, now concluded that something 
stronger than whisky even was required to end the 
disturbance. President Washington sent a commis- 
sion to make peace, if possible, and 
ordered an army of 12,000 men to 
be collected from Pennsylvaiiia, New 
Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. Gov- 
ernor Mifain sent Chief Justice Mc- 
Kean and General William Irvine to 
ascertain the state of the rebellion, 
and called a special session of the 

Albert GaUatin. -. • i ^ t ^ T) i -^ j 

Legislature. Judge Brackenridge and 
Albert Gallatin acted as mediators between the com- 
missioners and the insurrectionists, and after one 
month of hard work Q.ame to an amicable agree- 
ment. All those willing to do so were to sign 
papers signifying their submission to the govern- 
ment ; but many failed to sign. Washington, there- 
fore, ordered an advance of the army. Soon after- 
wards William Findley, at the head of a committee, 
met him at Carlisle, whither the President had come, 
and assured him that peace would be restored. 
Washington replied that the army was already on the 
march, but that no violence would be used if the 
insurrectionists had submitted. No further resistance 
was offered. It had been demonstrated that the 
Federal government was no rope of sand, to be broken 
whenever a State or a part of a State was opposed 
to a law. 

The difficulties of the Federal government with 
France and England, when those nations commenced 



The Administration of the Government 187 

war with each other in 1793, made themselves felt in 
the State. In common with the whole . . . ' 

country, the people of Pennsylvania sym- 
pathized with France. Jay's treaty with England, 
made the following year, caused such a division of the 
Americans that they were all either Frenchmen or 
Englishmen in their politics. At the election for the 
Assembly, there were "treaty" and " anti- treaty" 
candidates. Genet, the French minister, received the 
most flattering attention from the day he arrived until 
he was recalled. When Adet, his successor, ordered 
all Frenchmen in America to wear the tri- colored 
French cockade, everybody in Philadelphia wore it. 
Governor Miflin and his associates in the State gov- 
ernment openly sympathized with France. Even after 
France had asked a tribute from the American min- 
ister, and while " millions for defense ; but not one cent 
for tribute," reechoed over the land, the Pennsylvania 
Senate passed resolutions against a war with France. 
However, the House would not concur, and when war 
was imminent. Governor Miflin called on the militia 
to prepare for defense. Joseph Hopkinson's " Hail 
Columbia," sung for the first time in a Philadelphia 
theater April 25, 1798, to the tune of "The Presi- 
dent's March," added greatly to the war feeling. 
The words were caught up and repeated throughout 
the country. 

The agitation for the removal of the capital from 
Philadelphia began in 1784. In that Removal of the 
year a committee, which had been ap- state capital 
pointed on opening communication with the Susque- 
hanna, reported that John Harris, of Harris' Ferry, 
had offered some land to the State, which it might use 



188 • A History of Pennsylvania 

for public purposes. Soon afterwards other interior 
towns made efforts to secure the capital ; but Harris- 
burg and Lancaster were the principal competitors. 
In 1795 Carlisle was the choice of the House, but not 
of the Senate. The next year Lancaster was selected 
by the House in preference to Carlisle or Reading ; 
but the Senate again dissented. In 1798, Harrisburg 
and Wright's Ferry were voted for, but without an 
agreement. The following April Lancaster was se- 
lected to be the seat of government after the first 
Monday of November, 1799. 

Early in Adams' administration, the Federal gov- 
ernment imposed the so-called " house 

Fries' Rebellion 

tax," which required the assessors to 
measure and register the panes of glass in windows. 
To the Germans the tax seemed tyrannous ; and in 
the counties of Berks, Lehigh, Northampton, Mont- 
gomery and Bucks they resisted the enforcement of 
the law. From the fact that the women in certain 
places poured hot water on the assessors, the in- 
surrection got the name of " Hot Water Rebellion ; " 
while through its leader it also received the name of 
'' Fries' Rebellion." John Fries, a soldier of the 
Revolution, was a well known character in the Ger- 
man section north of Philadelphia. He was an 
auctioneer, and was endowed with the power of 
leadership. With a plumed hat on his head, a pistol 
and a sword at his side, his little dog "Whisky" 
at his heels, and about sixty armed men around him, 
he marched from place to place, to the sound of fife 
and drum, and harangued the Germans on the in- 
justice of the " house tax." He did this for several 
months before the government took any notice of it. 



The Administration of the Government 189 

Finally, a United States marshal arrested twelve of 
his men and confined them in the Sun Inn, Bethle- 
hem. Fries went to their rescue. He appeared be- 
fore the inn in March, 17^9, and demanded the sur- 
render of the prisoners. The marshal had to yield, 
and Fries marched away in triumph. By order of 
President Adams, Governor Mifflin now called out the 
militia, and Fries, betrayed by "Whisky," was cap- 
tured in a swamp south of Allentown. He was tried 
in Philadelphia for high treason, convicted and con- 
demned to die ; but President Adams pardoned him . 

The successor to Mifflin was Thomas McKean, then 
Chief Justice. He, too, served three succes- Governor 
sive terms, 1799-1808. In a speech after his McKean 
election he applied the epithets, "traitors, refugees, 
Tories, French aristocrats, British agents, apostate 
Whigs," etc., to the Federalists; and when Governor 
he removed the old soldiers of the Revolution from 
office as fast as he could. For this conduct he received 
a vote of censure in the Senate, and but narrowly es- 
caped a like rebuke from the House. 
This unhappy beginning resulted in 
a bitter contest with the Legislature, 
lasting during his entire administra- 
tion. At one time he was in danger 
of impeachment, one of the charges 
being that he allowed his clerk to 
affix the official signature to public 
documents by means of a stamp. In ^^^^ 

1799 many petitions for the unconditional abolition of 
slavery were sent to the Legislature. By the law of 
1780, the children born of slaves thereafter were to be 
servants, not slaves, and that only until they were 




190 A History of Pennsylvania 

twenty -eight years old. This condition was obnoxious 
to many people ; and the free negroes offered to pay 
for freeing their brethren unconditionally. 

In 1802 the Legislature passed an act which 
A Famous bccame the foundation of the public school 
Trial system. It provided for " the education of 
the poor gratis." Great interest was shown, also, at 
the opening of the century, in architecture, manufac- 
ture, horticulture, literature, and the useful arts — a 
number of societies being chartered by the Legisla- 
ture to promote one or more of these. But such 
useful things were lost sight of in the political tur- 
moil of the time. In January, 1805, when Justice 
Chase, of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
was about to be tried at the bar of the Senate for 
"high crimes and misdemeanors," a famous trial of 
a like nature occurred in Pennsylvania. Three jus- 
tices of the Supreme Court of the State — Edward 
Shippen, chief justice, and Jasper Yeates and 
Thomas Smith, associates — had been impeached by 
the House for the arbitrary committal of a suitor for 
contempt of court. H. H. Brackenridge, the fourth 
justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, was also 
to be removed, but Governor McKean refused when 
the Legislature asked him to do so. Caesar A. Rodney, 
of Delaware, was employed by the Legislature to act 
as counsel against the judges, because no lawyer in 
the State would do it. After a long struggle, the 
Senate came to a vote in the case of Shippen, 
Yeates and Smith. It stood for conviction — 13 
guilty and 11 not guilty. As three less than the 
required two- thirds voted guilty, the judges were 
acquitted. 



The Administration of the Oovernment 191 

The much -hated embargo act of the Federal gov- 
ernment made itself felt in Philadelphia Effects of 
very early in 1808. Discontented, hungry the Embargo 
and penniless sailors marched to the City Hall, under 
the folds of the Stars and Stripes, to ask the mayor 
what they should do to keep from starving. Yet the 
Pennsylvania Legislature, in common with that of 
other States, supported the embargo act in various 
resolutions. At the same time, it admitted that cer- 
tain evils existed, — "to wit, the great scarcity of 
money in the Commonwealth ; " and it appointed a 
committee to consider measures to stop the sale of 
property for the payment of debts. 

After Thomas McKean had served as long as the 
Constitution would permit, he was sue- Governor 
ceeded by Simon Snyder, the first native snyder 

executive of Pennsylvania born outside of a Quaker 
county. He served three terms — from 1808 to 1817. 
There were three parties in the field with a candidate for 
Governor — the Democrats (Snyder), 
the Constitutional Democrats, or 
"Quids" (Spayd), and the Federalists 
(Ross). The cry of the Federalists 
was "Free trade and no embargo." The 
Democrats generally supported Jeffer- 
son and his embargo, and passed a 
resolution in the Legislature early in 

^ Simon Snyder. 

1809 recommending that the members 
of the next Legislature " appear in clothes of domestic 
manufacture." The Legislature also ordered " that no 
British precedent should be read or quoted in courts of 
justice, nor any British decision made after July 4, 
1776, except those on maritime and international law." 




192 A History of Pennsylvania 

When the United States bank went ont of exis- 
tence in 1811, a great demand for State 
banks was made. Such was the mania for 
local banks that in 1814 a bill to charter forty -two 
of them was passed, vetoed by the Governor, and passed 
over his veto. After the capture of Washington 
by the British, the banks of Baltimore and Phila- 
delphia suspended specie payment, a measure which 
was followed by the banks throughout the country. 



TWO CENTS TWO CENTS 

I promise to pay the Bearer Two Cents 
on Demand at the 

Schuylkill Bank 

When a sum amounting to one dollar shall be 
presented. 

Philadelphia, July 4, 1815. Eichard Bache. 



The scarcity of coin gave rise to the use of notes 
for small sums — ^' shinplasters " — issued by individ- 
uals. With the establishment of banks all over the 
State, public improvements were extended. Petitions 
to the Legislature for money to improve the roads 
were especially numerous. 

When the second war with Great Britain was de- 
clared, June 18, 1812, Pennsylvania was 

The War of 1812 ' . ' . ' *^ 

ready with three times as many troops as 
were required to fill her quota. In December follow- 
ing Governor Snyder, in his message to the Legisla- 
ture, said : 

" The sword of the Nation, which for thirty years has besn 
resting in the scabbard, has been drawn to maintain that inde- 



The Administration of the Government 193 

pendenee which it had gloriously achieved. In the war of the 
Revolution our fathers went forth, as it were, 'with a sling, 
and with a stone, and smote the enemy.' Since that period 
our country has been abundantly blessed and its resources 
greatly multiplied; millions of her sons have grown to man- 
hood, and, inheriting the principles of their fathers, are deter- 
mined to preserve the precious heritage which was purchased 
by their blood, and won by their valor." 

Pennsylvania's soil received none of the blood shed 
in this war ; but her sons bled and died at Chippewa, 
Lundy's Lane, on Lake Erie, and at Baltimore, and 
shared in the glorious victory at New Orleans, When 
General TannehilPs brigade of 2,000 volunteer militia 
reached Niagara, they promptly crossed the line into 
Canada, and gallantly followed the flag of the 
United States government into a foreign country. 
The historic dialogue at Lundy's Lane — "Major, 
can you take that battery ! " "I can try, sir " — 
was between General Brown, a native of Bucks 
county, and Major Miller, of Gettysburg „ 

The greatest contribution by Pennsylvania to the 
war of 1812 was what Erie did in helping 

. ^ ^ Perry's Fleet 

to build and man Perry's fleet. Had it not 
been for Captain Daniel Dobbins, of Erie, Perry 
might never have been enabled to send the famous 
despatch, September 10, 1813: "We have met the 
enemy, and they are ours." Dobbins, as commander 
of a trading vessel, had the year before been a pris- 
oner of the British at Detroit. Believing that his 
experience would be of value, he went to Washington 
and told the President and his Cabinet that a fleet 
ought to be built at Erie for the purpose of sweeping 
the British from the lakes. He returned with orders 
to build two gunboats. Late in October he gathered 

M 



194 A History of Pennsylvania 

a few house -carpenters, and by January, 1813, had 
made such progress that he was instructed to build 
two sloops -of -war. Every stick of timber had to be 
cut from the stump, while deep snows covered the 
roots and wintry blasts whistled through the tops. 
In March, when Perry arrived, the keels and ribs 
were ready at the harbor of Erie. He hastened the 
work still more by ordering men from Philadelphia 
and New York to assist. Frequently a piece of 
timber that became part of a ship on an afternoon 
had been part of a tree in the forest that morning. 
The men of Erie stood guard over the ships while in 
process of construction ; they went to Buffalo and 
Pittsburg for supplies ; and when at last Perry was 
forced to say to the naval authorities, " For God's 
sake, and yours, and mine, send me men and officers, 
and I will have the enemy's ships in a day or two," 
the militia around Erie responded to his call and 
helped to win the great victorj^ that made him " the 
young Nelson of America." 

One other event of this war caused a great stir 
within the borders of this State — the burning of 
Washington. Governor Snj^der, August 26, 1814, in 
obedience to an order from President Madison, made 
a call for the militia of the counties nearest to the 
Capital. They assembled at Carlisle, York, and Mar- 
cus Hook. Those who were ordered to Washington 
took part in the attempt of General Winder to keep 
the British invaders out of the Capital. Among the 
heroes who won distinction on the sea were Commo- 
dore Stephen Decatur, Lieutenant James Biddle, and 
Captain Charles Stewart, each of whom was honored 
by the Legislature with a gold-hilted sword. 



The Administration of the Government 195 



In February, 1810, Governor Snyder approved the 
act of the Legislature establishing permanently the 
capital at Harrisburg, before the close of October, 
1812. The records were in danger of destruction at 




The Old Capitol. Built 1819-21 ; destroyed by fire February 2, 1897. 

Lancaster, and a more central place was desired. The 
places voted on were Lancaster, Harrisburg, North- 
umberland, Belief onte, Columbia, Carlisle, Reading and 
Sunbury. Harrisburg was selected because a very 
great portion of the produce of the State would find 
its way to market by means of the Susquehanna and 
its branches. It was argued that men of capital 
would locate at the seat of government if it admitted 
of commerce and was within easy and close communi- 
cation with Philadelphia. William McClay gave ten 
acres of land to the State, in addition to the four 
acres already appropriated by John Harris. The cor- 



196 A History of Pennsylvania 

nerstone of the capitol was laid May 31, 1819 ; the 
building was completed in 1821 and first occupied by 
the Assembly January 3, 1822. Before it was com- 
pleted, the State government was quartered in the old 
Dauphin county court-house. 

Towards the close of Snyder's administration, there 
A Bitter wcrc old-school Dcmocrats and new -school 
Quarrel Dcmocrats. The former were opposed to the 
system of caucus nomination, by which Congress and 
the State Legislature made known their preferences 
for President and Governor. The new school, in 1817, 
nominated William Findlay for Governor ; the other 
wing of the party presented the name of Joseph 
Hiester to the voters of the State. The Federalists 
voted for Hiester ; but Findlay carried the State by 
a small majority. When the Legislature met in 
December, petitions were presented protesting against 
the election of Findlay. A motion to suspend the 
inauguration was made in the House. Beyond causing 
much rancor, the petitions were fruitless. 

William Findlay was Governor for one term only, 
from 1817-1820. The war between the 
two schools of the Democratic party over 
methods of nomination was kept up briskly, and party 
spirit ran high. Petitions were sent to the Legisla- 
ture asking for an investigation into the conduct of 
the Governor. A committee was appointed to make 
a report of the charges, of which there were nine ; 
but no action was taken, because the report of the 
committee was not in favor of it. 

Governor Findlay was an ardent advocate of inter- 
nal improvements. He presented a plan for the 
navigation of the principal rivers as near to their 




The Administration of the Government 197 

sources as possible — the heads of the streams to be 
connected by short portages. In this he was but 
seconding a like movement by other States and the 
United States all along the Atlantic 
seaboard. During the second war 
with England, the Southern and Mid- 
dle States were blockaded and the 
coast trade had to be abandoned. 
Instead, a system of inland trade 
sprang up between New England and 
the South, which resulted in certain ^'^^'"^ ^^^^^"^• 
trunk line routes running north and south. After 
the war, when the Indians and the British were no 
longer a hindrance to the settlement of the North- 
west, great quantities of ware and merchandise had 
to be sent westward. But there were no roads 
in that direction ; so the natural thing to do would 
be to open the rivers for navigation. Steamboats, 
which had hitherto been used only for passengers, 
were now to take the place of the "ox and horse 
marine" in carrying freight. Commissioners of 
Maryland and Pennsylvania jointly examined the 
Susquehanna, and reported that $20,000 would clear 
the river from Harrisburg to Tioga Point. With a 
canal, twenty- three miles long, from the head of the 
West Branch to the Allegheny, the Mississippi valley 
could be reached. From the head of Chautauqua lake, 
a canal nine miles long would open an easy route to 
Lake Erie and the other great lakes. By means of 
another water route to Harrisburg and Pittsburg, by 
way of the Schuylkill, the Swatara and the Juniata, 
Philadelphia could be connected with the Pacific ocean 
at the mouth of the Columbia with only seventy- five 



198 A History of Pennsylvania 

miles of canal. Such were the calculations made to 
outdo New York on the north, and such were the 
dreams of Pennsylvania while the nightmare of the 
Erie canal disturbed her sleep! 

At the election for Governor in October, 1820, the 
The Elections coutcst was entirely confined to State 
of 1820 issues. The new -school Democrats had 
given Findlay a unanimous nomination for another 
term. Joseph Hiester, his opponent, was supported 
by the old -school Democrats and the Federalists. 
Under the constitution of 1790, the Governor had 
many offices to fill, and thus made many enemies. It 
was this that defeated Findlay for reelection. At 
the presidential election in November, Pennsylvania 
was the only State in the Union that made any oppo- 
sition to Monroe. It was based on his approval of 
the Missouri Bill. On election day, therefore, the 
anti- slavery men of Pennsylvania voted for DeWitt 
Clinton. 

Governor Hiester served one term — from 1820 to 
1823. He foresaw the party strife 
that awaited him ; for he urged the 
Legislature iu his first message to 
reduce the great power and patronage 
of the Executive. Findlay became a 
candidate for the United States Sen- 
ate in January following ; but no one 
. osep les ei. getting a majority, the Legislature 
adjourned sine die. This unfinished business in- 
creased the rancor of party; but early in 1822 ex- 
Governor Findlay was elected Senator, and that 
contest was eliminated from the struggle between the 
two factions. 




The Administration of the Government 199 

The movement for internal improvement did not 
abate during Hiester's term. The great p^^j^j.^ 

highways to the West were not to be improvements 
a mere fancy. The Legislature in 1821 ^"'^ Education 
chartered a number of canal and turnpike companies, 
and appropriated money for the same. The subject 
of education received considerable attention at this 
time. Governor Hiester said in his message : "Above 
all, it appears an imperative duty to introduce and 
support a liberal system of education, connected with 
some general religious instruction." 

Hiester not being a candidate for reelection, the 
Democrats nominated John Andrew Shulze The Elections of 
for Governor in 1823. The Federalist i823andi824 
candidate was Andrew Gregg, a former Democrat. 
Shulze was elected, and was the choice of the 
Democratic wing which supported Calhoun and 
Crawford against Jackson in 1824. However, the 
hero of New Orleans got the electoral vote of Penn- 
sylvania by an overwhelming majority. Crawford, 
having been nominated by a congressional caucus, 
had no chance in this State, where the 
Democrats had been split since 1817 
on methods of nomination. 

Governor Shulze was in office from 

1823 to 1829, serving two terms. Governor 

Assuming that the Legislature shuke 

knew the wants of the State better 

than he, Shulze, in his first message, John Andrew Shuize 

recommended but one thing for their consideration — 

education. Said he, " Convinced that even liberty 

without knowledge is but a precarious blessing, 

I can not too strongly recommend this subject to 




200 A History of Pennsylvania 

your consideration." The Legislature accordingly 
passed a law providing for the education of all 
children between six and fourteen at public expense ; 
but no child was to have this privilege for more than 
three years. Being violently opposed, the law was 
repealed in 1826. 

The subject of internal improvements was another 
Internal im- vcry Uvc qucstiou at this time. Coal, iron 
provements ^ud mauufacturcs were becoming great in- 
dustries in Pennsylvania. The Schuylkill and the 
Union canals, connecting Philadelphia with the Sus- 
quehanna, were finished. The great Pennsylvania 
canal was begun near Harrisburg in 1827. The 
several parts, including the Delaware, the Columbia, 
the Harrisburg, the Juniata, and the Western divi- 
sions, having altogether a length of 425 miles, were 
completed in 1830. A board of five canal commis- 
sioners was created by the Legislature in 1825, to 
manage Ihis stupendous system for the State. The 
money needed was borrowed from banks by authority 
of the Legislature. Governor Shulze opposed this 
plan, favoring taxation to pay at least a part of the 
enormous expense. But the people did not care for 
debts in this "era of good feeling," and before the 
close of Shulze's second term the State, had borrowed 
$6,000,000. It required all his skill and energy to 
remedy the evils that followed. 

During the Presidential campaign of 1824, when 
four candidates were before the people, 

Governor Wolf , , ^ . , mi 

the old parties were broken up. The name 
Federalist sank into oblivion. Its place for a brief 
period was taken by the anti-Masons, who, in 1829, 
named Joseph Ritner as their candidate for Gover- 




The Administration of the Government 201 

nor. . The Democratic candidate was George Wolf, 
who won the election by a majority of 17,000, 
When Governor Wolf assumed office, he reported to 
the Legislature that $8,300,000 had been borrowed 
by the State since the first loan for 
public improvements was authorized 
in 1821, and that $3,459,533 was 
still needed to complete the canals 
and railroads included in the system. 
The public works were pushed to 
completion, and in a few years 
Governor Wolf and others, upon ^^^^^ 

whose shoulders the responsibility rested heavily for 
a time, had the proud satisfaction of seeing the 
State prosper greatly under 'its system of water 
communication. "Clinton's Big Ditch" in New York 
now had a worthy rival. 

Governor Wolf, in his first inaugural addi;ess, like 
all his predecessors under the constitution PubUc 

of 1790, addressed himself to the subject of Education 
public education, and proved himself a warm friend 
of that cause. But all the Governors, from Mifflin 
down to Wolf, and all the legislative reports, bills, 
discussions and enactments, reached no higher ground 
than the free instruction of the poor, or, at best, a 
general system of free primary instruction. Up to 
1830, the great free -school system, as we now have 
it, was still in embryo. Even Wolf, when he became 
Governor, spoke only of "ensuring to every indigent 
child in the Commonwealth the rudiments of learn- 
ing." But in his message to the Legislature of 
1830-31, he gives evidence of broader ideas when he 
speaks of the blessings of education to "the whole 



202 A History of Pennsylvania 

community," to "every individual susceptible of par- 
taking of them," "to the poor, as well as to the rich." 

" I am thoroughly persuaded that there is not a single 
measure of all these which will engage your deliberations in 
the course of the session of such intrinsic importance to the 
general prosperity and happiness of the people of the Common- 
wealth," to the cause of public virtue and public morals, to the 
hopes and expectations of the rising generation, to whom the 
future political destinies of the Eepublic are to be committed, 
or which will add so much to the sum of individual and social 
improvement and comfort, as a general diffusion of the means 
of moral and intellectual cultivation among all classes of our 
citizens." 

The people, too, had advanced. Petitions for the 
The Common establishment of a better system of pub- 
schoois lie education had come before the Legis- 

Estabhshed laturc from twenty -four counties, while 
only a few remonstrances were presented. Much 
credit is due to the Pennsylvania Society for the Pro- 
motion of Public Schools. It memorialized the Legis- 
lature repeatedly in favor of public schools. Yet all 
that was done at the session of 1830-31 was to pro- 
vide for a "common school fund," the interest of 
which was to be distributed and applied to the sup- 
port of common schools in a manner to be determined 
by future legislation. In his next message, the Gov- 
ernor emphasized the importance of further legisla- 
tion. Yet, though the question came up annually 
thereafter, nothing was accomplished until 1834. The 
people had become wide awake now. Public meet- 
ings were held all over the State, resolutions were 
passed, comparisons with other States were made, and 
an increased number of free -school members was in 
both houses of the Legislature. The result was that 



The Administration of the Government 203 

on March 15, 1834, "An Act to Establish a General 
System of Education by Common Schools" was 
passed. In the House but one man voted nay ; in 
the Senate, three. 

In strange contrast with this unanimity was the 
opposition to the law in the next Legis- The common 
lature. A majority of the members went schools saved 
to Harrisburg resolved to repeal it. The enemies of 
free schools had attacked the measure of 1834 in all 
parts of the State. Families, neighborhoods, churches, 
newspapers — all quarreled with one another and 
among themselves. In some instances members of 
the Legislature who had voted for the free -school law 
made humiliating and dishonorable confession of 
having done wrong, else they would not have been 
returned. The Senate was especially hostile to the 
act of 1834, and repealed it in March, 1835. Thirteen 
of the nineteen who voted for the repeal had the pre- 
vious year voted for free schools. The House, fortu- 
nately, was more friendly; but what it would have 
done had it not been for the speech 
of one member — Thaddeus Stevens — 
cannot be told. It was said by eye- 
witnesses of the great fight in that 
body that Stevens saved the 11th 
day of April, 1835, for the common 
schools in Pennsylvania. 

"Who would not rather do one living 
deed than have his ashes enshrined in Thaddeus Stevens, 
ever-burnished gold ? Sirs, I trust that when we come to 
act on this question, we shall take lofty ground — look be- 
yond the narrow space which now circumscribes our vision, 
beyond the passing, fleeting point of time on which we 
stand — and so cast our votes that the blessing of education 




204 A History of Pennsylvania 

shall be conferred upon every son of Pennsylvania — shall 
be carried home to the poorest child of the poorest inhab- 
itant of the meanest hut of your mountains, so that even he 
may be prepared to act well his part in this land of freemen, 
and lay on earth a broad and a solid foundation for that endur- 
ing knowledge which goes on increasing through increasing 
eternity." 

Governor Wolf was nominated for a third term ; 
Governor but was defeated by Joseph Ritner, the anti- 
Ritner Mason and Whig candidate, who had been 

his opponent twice before. Rev. H. A. Muhlenberg, 
another candidate, divided the Democratic vote. 
"Public Education," the banner under which Gov- 
ernor Wolf fought his campaign, had much to do 
with his defeat. But Ritner, although some of his 
supporters were " no -school -tax" and " no -free -school" 
men, proved to be an equally staunch friend of the 
new law. In his annual messages he favored in- 
creased State aid to the common schools, and had 
the satisfaction of seeing it raised from $75,000 to 
$400,000 a year. He was ably supported in his pol- 
icy by his Secretary of the Commonwealth and Super- 
intendent of Common Schools, Thomas 
H. Burro wes. 

Governor Ritner' s administration was 
Financial also chargcd with the task of 
Difficulties making the public works 
"answer the great object for which 
they had been originally designed — the 
oseph Ritner. p^^|^j|g good." This provcd to be a 

difficult task on account of financial troubles. A 
vast amount of paper money had been issued while 
the works were in process of construction. Ritner 
wanted this kind of monev reduced to within " the 





The Administration of the Government 205 

actual value and amount of its principal." In the 
panic of 1837 (see any U. S. history) the banks all 
suspended specie payment, and paper money was the 
only medium of exchange. Jackson's famous "specie 
circular" and other measures had forced gold and 
silver out of circulation. 

The adoption of a new constitution 
was the last important 

Governor Porter 

event of Governor Kitner's 
administration. His successor was 
David R. Porter, who was Governor 
from 1838 to 1845. The campaign 
was very heated, and when the election ^^^^^ ^' ^^^*®^- 
was over the friends of Governor Ritner resolved 
to make an investigation of alleged frauds. The 
Legislature which met December 4, 1838, was anti- 
Masonic and Whig in the Senate ; in the House 
both parties claimed a majority. Accordingly, two 
Speakers were elected in the House — Thomas S. 
Cunningham, of Beaver county, by the anti- Masons 
and Whigs, and William Hopkins, of Washington 
county, by the Democrats. Both Speakers occupied 
seats on the platform, a double-headed organization 
was effected, and both factions adjourned, to meet the 
next day. But the anti -Masons and Whigs met 
again in the afternoon. Some spectators, friends of 
the Hopkins party, went up to the platform and 
carried the Speaker pro tern, down into the aisle. 
Overcome by superior numbers, the Cunningham 
House then adjourned to what is now the Lochiel 
Hotel. The Senate also had to adjourn, the Speaker 
jumping " out ■ of a window twelve feet high, through 
thorn bushes and over a seven -foot picket fence." 



206 A History of Pennsylvania 

Things now assumed a threatening aspect. A 
"The Buck- public meeting was held counselling mod- 
shot War •' eration ; business was suspended for several 
days ; Governor Ritner called out the militia under 
General Patterson ; and, had not President Van Buren 
declined to order them, United States troops from 
Carlisle would have been on the scene too. The 
presence of the bayonet enabled the peacemakers to 
restore quiet. The Senate recognized the Democratic 
wing of the House as the rightful organization, and 
what is known as the " Buck-shot War" came to an 
end. The ammunition for the infantry at this time 
was buck-shot cartridges. It is said that the Cun- 
ningham men made some of these cartridges at their 
headquarters and sent them by a negro to the 
arsenal, to be used on the mob ; that the negro was 
caught and compelled to give up his cartridges to the 
captors, who distributed them among their friends as 
mementoes. Hence the name " Buck-shot War." 

The suspension of specie payment continued to 
Financial disturb busiucss. lu 1842 an act was 
Troubles passcd by the Legislature compelling banks 
to resume. Refusal to do so was to be followed by 
a forfeiture of their charters. Some resumed ; others 
tried but had to close their doors, while a few refused 
to obey the law. So depreciated paper money re- 
mained the currency until the Legislature agreed to 
fill the State's empty treasury by means of taxation 
— a measure that had been strongly urged by Wolf. 
The newspapers of those days all published rates of 
discount and descrip*;ions of counterfeit notes, and 
these were consulted by the people when they paid 
or received paper money. 



The Administration of the government 207 

Governor Porter had occasion to make a defense of 
the Germans and the German language Governor Porter 
in one of his veto messages. An act and the Germans 
had been passed abolishing the printing of the laws 
in the German language. One -third of the popula- 
tion was German. In most of the eastern counties, 
German was the language of daily intercourse, of the 
schools, and of the newspapers. Governor Porter 
could, therefore, see nothing unreasonable in publish- 
ing the laws in the only language those people could 
understand. A few years later, when a Superinten- 
dent of Public Printing was established, it was 
ordered that he should receive bids for both English 
and German printing, and there was an English and 
a German State Printer until 1856. 

The Missouri Compromise had resulted in a gen- 
eral movement in the North against slavery. 

... ^^ "^ Race Riots 

Abolition societies were formed, newspapers 
w^ere established, and men and women took the plat- 
form. In 1833, a convention met at Philadelphia 
and formed the American Anti- Slavery Society. This 
agitation brought on riots in Philadelphia between the 
whites and the blacks. The most serious occurred 
when Pennsylvania Hall was dedicated, in May, 1838. 
It had been erected by the Anti -Slavery Society for 
the free discussion of that cause. All went well 
until the evening of the third day, when a crowd of 
roughs threw stones into the windows and hissed and 
hooted the speakers. The next night a larger body 
put out the lamps in the neighborhood, broke into 
the hall, set it on fire, and turned on the gas to assist 
the flames. The work of destruction was complete ; 
for nothing but the walls was left of this monument 
to free speech. 



208 A History of Pennsylvania 

In 1843, a new party appeared in American poli- 
tics — the Native American— which, among 
Political Riots Q^Yier things, held that foreigners should 
not be appointed to office. In Philadelphia the move- 
ment was attended the next year by disorderly meet- 
ings, fatal riots, ^nd the burning of houses and 
churches. In May, Governor Porter ordered General 
Patterson to restore order with the militia, which he 
did. But on the following Fourth of July there was 
a grand Native American procession in Philadelphia. 
This revived bitter memories, and the rioting began 
anew, lasting for several days. The city was put 
under martial law. Troops moved upon the mob 
with deadly effect ; while, the rioters procured a can- 
non and fired chains, bolts, spikes and other missiles 
at the soldiers. The Governor, who had come to 
Philadelphia in person, now called out additional 
troops, and was soon able to withdraw the militia 
and entrust the city again to the mayor. The Legis- 
lature then passed a law strengthening the govern- 
ment of the city of Philadelphia, and the riots which 
had disgraced the city for ten years ceased. 

According to the Constitution of 

1838, the Governor con Id 

not hold office "longer 

than six in any term of nine years." 

Governor Porter, therefore, retired, and 

was succeeded by his Secretary of the 

Commonwealth, Francis R. Shunk, who 

Francis R. Shunk. gervcd ouc term and about six months 

of a second term. Having become ill. Governor 

Shunk, July 9, 1848, addressed a pathetic letter from 

his death-bed to the people of Pennsylvania, and 




The Administration of the Government 209 

resigned his office. He died, deeply lamented, July 
30, at Harrisburg, 

"In taking leave of you under circumstances so solemn, 
accept my gratitude for the confidence you have reposed in me. 
My prayer is that peace, virtue, intelligence, and religion may 
pervade all your borders ; that the free institutions you have 
inherited from your ancestors may remain unimpaired till the 
latest posterity ; that the same kind Providence which has al- 
ready so signally blessed you may conduct you to a still higher 
state of individual and social happiness ; and when the world 
shall close upon you, as I feel it soon about to close upon me, 
that you may enjoy the consolation of the Christian's faith, 
and be gathered, without a wanderer lost, into the fold of the 
Great Shepherd above." 

Governor Shunk was chief executive of Pennsyl- 
vania during the Mexican war. Presi- 

. • o The Mexican War 

dent Polk called for six regiments from 
this State. In response, ninety companies were 
formed, making three regiments more than were 
asked, while only two regiments and several detached 
companies were mustered into service. These distin- 
guished themselves by their bravery at Vera Cruz, 
Cerro Gordo, Chepultepec and Mexico. In memory of 
their valor the State erected a towering monument on 
Capitol Hill, at Harrisburg. The victories of peace 
during this administration were equally important. In 
1845, the first telegrajjh poles were erected within the 
State, and a line was opened from Philadelphia to 
New York. The first movement toward the construc- 
tion of the Pennsylvania railroad between Harrisburg 
and Pittsburg took place in the same year. 

After Governor Shunk' s resignation there was 
an interregnum until July 26, when the Governor 
Speaker of the Senate, agreeably to the Johnston 
Constitution, took the office for the unexpired termc 

N 




210 A History of Pennsylvania 

The person who thus became acting Governor was 
William F. Johnston, and he was nick -named " His 
Accidency." Johnston was also the choice of a small 
majority at the election for the unexpired term. He 
belonged to the Whigs, who were in 
the ascendency in 1848, electing Gen- 
eral Taylor President. In the North 
they were opposed to the extension of 
the slave power. In Pennsylvania the 
Assembly passed an act prohibiting 
judges of the State from executing 
William F. johnstoB ^he fugitive - slavc law of 1793, and 
forbidding the use of the jails for the 
detention of fugitive slaves. The privilege of non- 
residents to keep slaves temporarily in the State was 
also cancelled. These acts were severely condemned 
by the Southern States. 

In 1850, a new fugitive - slave law was passed by 
The Congress, by which United States com- 

underground missioucrs wcrc authoHzcd to turn over a 
negro to anybody who claimed him as an 
escaped siave. For years the fugitive slave had felt 
safe when he reached Pennsylvania ; but now he had 
to flee to Canada. In this he was assisted by an 
organization known as the "Underground Railroad." 
The origin of this name may be traced to Columbia, 
Lancaster county. That town was laid out by 
descendants of the Quaker John Wright (see p. 78), 
and they reserved some lots in it for free colored 
people. It, therefore, became a refuge for runaway 
slaves. Their masters could track them as far as 
Columbia, where all traces disappeared ; and it was 
declared that "there must be an underground idil- 



The Administration of the Government 211 

road" leading out of it. Through the secret assist- 
ance of the anti- slavery people, the fugitive slaves 
were sent across Lancaster, Chester, Montgomery and 
Bucks counties to West Chester, Philadelphia, Quaker- 
town and Stroudsburg. To these points the negroes 
would travel in small parties by night and be con- 
cealed by friends in cellars, garrets, hay lofts, and 
other hiding places, till all danger from pursuit had 
passed. Another line came up from Maryland 
through Chester county. Some fugitive slaves entered 
the State by way of Bedford and followed the moun- 
tains to Potter county, whence they were forwarded to 
Canada. Erie, too, was a favorite station. Under the 
law of 1850, the least assistance given to a fugitive 
slave was punished if it was discovered. A man in 
Cumberland county was tried in the United States court 
for giving a few slaves something to eat after a night's 
rest in his barn. Though not convicted, he had to sell 
his farm to pay the expense of the trial. 

In 1851, a serious riot occurred at Christiana, Lan- 
caster county, one of the stations of the The Riot 
Underground Railroad. It grew out of an ^* Christiana 
attempt to arrest three fugitive slaves harbored in the 
cabin of a negro farm hand named Parker. The 
owner of the slaves, accompanied by a United States 
marshal and his posse, appeared early one morning in 
September. A demand to surrender was answered by 
a shot from the garret and the blowing of a big 
dinner horn. As a gang of kidnapers had been 
about for some time, the neighbors understood the 
signal as that for serious action. White men and 
colored men with guns, scythes, and clubs, ran from 
every direction. The slave -owner was advised to 



212 A History of Pennsylvania 

leave; but he wanted his property, "dead or alive." 
In the encounter which followed he himself was mor- 
tally wounded by one of his own slaves. A number 
of the free colored men were arrested and indicted for 
treason ; but only one was tried, and he was acquitted. 
The riot at Christiana caused a profound sensation 
all over the country. It happened in the midst of the 
campaign for Governor, and became an issue at the 
election. 

Governor Johnston was defeated for a second term 
Governor by William Bigler, the Democratic candi- 
Bigi^'- date, who served from 1852 to 1855. The 

common school system having been extended to 
every district in the State in 1849, improvements 
in it could be made more easily and effectually. In 
his first annual message, Governor Bigler made a 
strong plea for professional teachers and other needed 
improvements; and he had the satisfaction of signing 
a bill creating the office of county superintendent. 
Provisions for the education of feeble-minded children 
were also made during his term. 

The enormous State debt, amount- 
The state iug iu 1848 to morc than 
^^^^ $40,000,000, was reduced by 

$700,000 during the previous admin- 
istration by means of a sinking fund. 
The Governor, therefore, urged the 
completion of the canal along the 
North Branch of the Susquehanna — 
Wiiham Bigier. ^ ^ork that had been neglected for 
ten or twelve years. The canal was to give an 
outlet to the boundless coal-fields in that region. 
Another powerful impulse to the development of the 





The Administration of the Government 213 

State was given by the completion of the Pennsyl- 
vania railroad, in 1854. The era of great expendi- 
tures was now about over. Governor Bigler might 
well congratulate the people on the fact that hence- 
forth money would flow into the 
treasury instead of out of it. 

In the election for Governor in 
October, 1854, the Whigs 

. . Governor Pollock 

and Native Americans 
elected their candidate, James Pollock, 
against William Bigler, Democrat, and 
B. Rush Bradford, Free Soil, by a large 

• -i. mi- A' J? 1 James Pollock. 

majority. The question of slavery was 
disrupting both the Whigs and Democrats throughout 
the country. Thi« rupture in the old parties, and the 
immense foreign immigration about the middle of the 
century, gave a new but brief lease of life to the 
Native Americans. This party had now come to be 
called the '^ Know -Nothing Party," from the fact that 
its members, when questioned about their purposes 
and principles, would say, "I don't know." 

In 1857, the Legislature passed an act directing the 
main line of public works between Phila- The Pubiic 
delphia and Pittsburg to be sold. The works soid 
Pennsylvania Railroad Company purchased them for 
$7,500,000. The canals on the Susquehanna and its 
branches above the mouth of the Juniata, together 
with the Delaware division, were sold the following 
year to the Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company for 
$3,500,000. These canals, after the railroads had 
been built, had failed to be a source of revenue to 
the State. The proceeds of the sale greatly lessened 
the public debt, and the people were relieved of bur- 



214 A History of Pennsylvania 

densome taxation. The transfer of the canals and 
railroads to private corporations closed the history of 
public improvements in the line of transportation. 

In 1857, a great financial panic occurred in the 
The Panic United Statcs, and "a wave of bankruptcy 
of 1857 swept round the civilized world." It was 

due to speculation, resulting, probably, from the dis- 
covery of gold in California and Australia. The 
banks of Pennsylvania, in common with others all 
over the country, became more or less embarrassed, 
and had to suspend specie payments. Governor 
Pollock called an extra session of the Legislature, in 
order to release the banks from the penalties previ- 
ously prescribed for suspension, and to give relief to 
debtors. Through this timely action, ruin and bank- 
ruptcy were avoided. The year 1857 is also memorable 
in the history of the State as closing the career of 
one of her greatest sons — Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, the 
Arctic explorer. His body lay in state in Indepen- 
dence Hall, was viewed by thousands of people, and 
followed to the grave by scientists, statesmen, pro- 
fessors and students from all over the land. 

In the midst of the financial disaster came the 
The Republican Campaign for Governor. William F. 
Party Organized Packer was uomiuatcd by the Democrats, 
David Wilmot by the Free Soilers, and Isaac Hazle- 
hurst by the Americans. The j^ear before, the Repub- 
lican party had made its appearance as a national 
organization at Pittsburg, and a few months later 
nominated its first candidate for President, at Phila- 
delphia. David Wilmot received the support of the 
Republicans because the new party was to absorb the 
Free Soilers. The Democratic candidate was successful. 




The Administration of the Government 215 

« 

When Governor Packer assumed office in Januarj^, 
1858, the currency of the State was 

Governor Packer 

still in a disordered condition. But 

the attention of the people of Pennsylvania, from 1858 

to 1861, was riveted on national affairs. Two 

days after the inauguration of Pennsylvania's only 

President, the Supreme Court of the 

United States decided that a slave 

could be taken into the territories the 

same as a horse or an ox, and that, 

therefore, Dred Scott, the Missouri 

slave, was not a free man. A little 

later Buchanan, ignoring the vote of 

the free settlers against it, urged the wniiam f. Packer. 

admission of Kansas as a slave State. These acts 

of the government at Washington alienated many 

of the President's supporters in Pennsylvania, chief 

of whom was Joho W. Forney. 

The next affair to add fury to the political fire 
was the raid of John Brown , one Sunday john Brown-s 
night in October, 1859, and his execution ^^^^ 

on the gallows, December 2. Brown had made Cham- 
bersburg his base of operations for some weeks, and 
was known there as Dr. Smith, engaged in mining 
in the State of Maryland. When his sentence of 
death had been passed, the Abolitionists of the State 
were filled with indignation. At a meeting in Phila- 
delphia, on the morning of the hanging, Lucretia Mott 
— the Quaker Abolitionist — and other speakers ex- 
pressed their sympathy, under a storm of hisses and 
groans. Two days later the body of Brown passed 
through the city, and there was a great clamor from 
the Abolitionists and the colored people for a view of 



216 A History of Pennsylvania 

it. For fear of violence, a trick was played on the 
crowd outside the depot. A box, in imitation of a 
coffin, was solemnly carried out by six men, while 
the real body was quietly and safely conveyed to the 
New York ferry. Fresh alarm and anxiety were cre- 
ated when, in the same month. Governor Wise, of 
Virginia, requested the southern medical students in 
Philadelphia to finish their course at Richmond and 
other cities in the South. 

The year 1860, from January to December, was 
The Election givcu to ouc contiuuous agitatlou of 

of 1860 ^\^Q slavery question, particularly in its 
bearings on the elections for President and Governor. 
The Democrats of the State were divided in the 
choice for President, between Breckenridge and 
Douglas ; on the candidate for Governor, Henry D. 
Foster, they were united. The Republicans had a 
majority for Lincoln, and elected Andrew G. Curtin 
Governor. Bell, the Union candidate for President, 
got about 12,000 votes in Pennsj'lvania. When 
Governor Packer wrote his last message to the Legis- 
lature, South Carolina had already seceded, and other 
States were considering the same step. "The advo- 
cates of secession," said the Governor, "claim that 
the Union is merely a compact between the several 
States composing it, and that any one of the States, 
when aggrieved, maj% at its pleasure, declare it will 
no longer be a party to the compact. This doctrine 
is clearly erroneous." 

The first decided resistance to President Buchanan's 
First Resistance to Secretary of War, who was a South- 

the South erner, and quietly strengthened the 

military posts of the South, came from Pittsburg, 



The Administration of the Government 217 

late in December, 1860. It was learned that 700 
tons of arms and ammunition were to be shipped 
from the arsenal at Lawrenceville, Allegheny county, 
to New Orleans. Several public meetings were held, 
and were attended by thousands of people. Reso- 
lutions were passed that the President should purge 
his Cabinet of disloyal members, and, as a Pennsyl- 
vanian, see to it that the Republic suffer no detri- 
ment as long as it were in his hands. While a 
committee went to Washington to protest, cannon were 
conveyed to the wharf and loaded on the steamer. At 
this critical moment Edwin M. Stanton, Buchanan's 
Attorney -General, sent a telegram that the order 
would be countermanded in a few days. 

On the 15th of January, 1861, began the most 
memorable administration in the history 

Governor Curtin 

of Pennsylvania — that of the "War Gov- 
ernor,'' Andrew G. Curtin. In his inaugural address, 
he declared that Pennsylvania would "render a full 
and determined support of the free institutions of the 
Union," and pledged himself to defend the Constitu- 
tion against all its enemies. The 
Legislature likewise took a firm stand 
in behalf of the Constitution and the 
Union. When Lincoln stopped at 
Harrisburg, February 22d, on his 
way to Washington, he was enthusi- 
astically received in the chamber of 
the Assembly, where the members 
of both houses had assembled to ^^^^^^ e^. Curtin. 
greet him and to hear his inspiring oratory. It 
was after this reception that Lincoln's famous secret 
ride to Washington was planned at the Jones House 




218 A History of Pennsylvania 

(now the Commonwealth Hotel). He had been in- 
formed that a plot existed in Baltimore to assas- 
sinate him on his way through that city. As it had 
been published far and wide that he was to leave on 
the Northern Central Railroad early the next morn- 
ing, Governor Curtin, Secretary Slifer, Senator 
McClure, and Colonel Scott, of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad, decided, very much against Mr. Lincoln's 
wishes, that he should leave Harrisburg that evening 
and pass, by way of Philadelphia, through Baltimore 
at an unexpected hour. To deceive the throng out- 
side the hotel, Governor Curtin called for a carriage 
and had himself and the President-elect driven in the 
direction of the Executive Mansion. When near 
there, a circuitous route was taken to the depot. 
Lincoln, accompanied by a friend, who was armed 
with a small arsenal of weapons, hastily took a special 
train for Philadelphia. Colonel Scott then, with his 
own hands, cut all the telegraph wires leading out of 
the city and nervously awaited a cipher despatch that 
Lincoln was to send when he arrived at Washington. 
It was a long, anxious night for those who were in 
the secret. With the dawn of day came these words — 
" Plums delivered nuts safely" — signifying that all was 
well. Lincoln always regretted that he had gone to 
Washington in that way; for it is not believed that 
any plot to assassinate him had existed. 

The day after Fort Sumter was evacuated, Presi- 
The First dcut Lincolu called for 75,000 troops, Penn- 
Defendera sylvauia's Quota bciug 14,000. Governor 
Curtin telegraphed the call all over the State, and so 
quick was the response that five Keystone companies 
now wear the proud badge of the "First Defenders." 



The Administration of the Government 219 

They were the Ringgold Light Artillery, of Reading; 
the Logan Guards, of Lewistown ; the Washington 
Artillery and the National Light Infantry, of Potts- 
ville; and the Allen Rifles, of Allentown. The Ring- 
gold company was the first to reach Harrisburg, arriv- 
ing there the day after the President's call. In the 
streets of Baltimore the " First Defenders " suffered 
the taunts, sneers and insults of the same mob that 
attacked the Sixth Massachusetts the next day. But 
they never wavered under the constant fire of bricks, 
clubs, stones and earth. After they had boarded the 
train for Washington, the mob tried to derail the 
cars, detach the locomotive and break the machinery. 
During it all, the Governor of Pennsylvania, with 
breathless anxiety, listened to the click of the tele- 
graph at Harrisburg, as it reported step after step of 
the perilous march through Baltimore. At 7 o'clock 
on the evening of the 18th the " First Defenders " 
reported at Washington. Congress afterwards passed 
a resolution, thanking "the 530 soldiers from Penn- 
sylvania who passed through the mob at Baltimore 
and reached Washington on the 18th of April last, 
for the defence of the National Capital." 

Recruits now poured into Harrisburg by the thou- 
sands, overflowing the depots, the streets, and the 
capitol grounds. A great camp was established, called 
Camp Curtin, in the northwest suburbs. Before the 
end of the month twenty -five regiments were formed 
there and sent to the front, while thirty -more were 
offered but not accepted. Simon Cameron, Secretary 
of War, Thaddeus Stevens, member of Congress, and 
Governor Curtin, all favored a much larger army than 
Lincoln had called for. 



220 A History of Pennsylvania 

On the 15tli of May the Legislature, in extra 
ThePennsyi- session, Ordered the formation of the fa- 
vania Reserves nious Pennsylvania Reserves. George A. 
McCall was appointed major-general, and John F. 
Reynolds, George G. Meade and O. E. 0. Ord, briga- 
dier-generals. They numbered 16,000 men, — thirteen 
regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and one of 
artillery, — who were to serve three years. They were 
to be drilled and equipped, ready for any call that 
might be made. The wisdom of this measure was 
seen in July, when the Union forces came rushing 
back from Bull Run, defeated and disorganized. The 
President instantly called for the Pennsylvania 
Reserves. Under the call of " Father Abraham for 
five hundred thousand more," the Reserves now en- 
tered upon a career of honor and glory. 

In 1862, the State was called on to do little except 
Many Soldiers to f umisli her quota of troops ; but the 

^^'^ people in their private capacity did much. 

Mason and Dixon's Line was the gateway to the 
South during that year, the Mississippi valley being 
still in the hands of the Confederates. As the troops 
passed through our cities and towns on their way to 
the front, acts of kindness innumerable were shown 
to them. Train loads were refreshed with sandwiches 
and coffee. In Philadelphia, throughout the war, the 
Union and Cooper -shop volunteer refreshment saloons 
were kept open with free contributions. Nearly a 
million of soldiers from the North and East, as they 
passed to and fro, were made happy with something 
to eat and drink. At one time a fair was held in 
Logan Square and $1,500,000 raised for the sick and 
wounded. 



The Administration of the Government 221 

In August, 1862, a State draft, under the direction 
of the United States, was made. The men Drafts and 
drafted could furnish substitutes, for whom substitutes 
as much as $1,500 was paid. A regular business of 
buying and selling substitutes sprang up at Camp 
Curtin, and enormous profits were made in the traffic. 
Substitutes were employed who were incompetent or 
disloyal, shirking duty in the field and deserting at 
the first opportunity. In 1863, a second draft was 
made, but by the direct authority of the United States. 
On the day appointed for the drafting, the names of 
all previously enrolled in a certain district, each written 
on a separate ballot, were placed in a wheel, from 
which a person blindfolded drew a number of names 
equal to the quota of the district. Persons drafted 
could be excused from service on the production of a 
substitute or the payment of $300. 

No sooner had the war fairly commenced than it 
became evident that Pennsylvania would 

Stuart's Raid 

be invaded. The first opportunity came 
to the enemy in the fall of 1862. On the 10th of 
October, General J. E. B. ("Jeb") Stuart made a cav- 
alry raid through Franklin county. His troops rode 
into Chambersburg in the evening, cut off telegraphic 
communications, ransacked the stores, and terrified 
the inhabitants all night with the tramp of horses 
and the rattling of sabers. The next morning they 
made a raid on a warehouse containing military stores. 
What they could not pack on their horses, of which 
1,200 had been taken on the raid through the county, 
they destroyed by setting fire to the building. The 
flames spread to the depot of the railroad and con- 
sumed it, too. The raiders then beat a hasty retreat to 



222 A History of Pennsylvania 

the Potomac, and thence to Virginia, after causing a loss 
of about $150,000. Chambersburg was within a night's 
ride from the Confederate lines all through the war. 
Pennsylvania was the land of promise to General 

Lee and the army of northern Virginia. 

Its rich granaries, great coal-fields, and 
extensive factories of war supplies were tempting 
objects for capture and destruction. Lee's defeat 
at Antietam foiled the first attempt, but did not 
destroy the desire. His victory at Chancellors ville 
gave the opportunity to try again. In June, 1863, 
the border counties of the State, from one end of 
Mason and Dixon's Line to the other, were threatened 
with invasion. The Secretary of War, Stanton, tele- 
graphed to Pittsburg that the gunshops of that 
city were to be destroyed. Immediately all the great 
iron plants were closed and the men were kept at work 
for two weeks, throwing up intrenchments. Though 
no attack was made as far west as the Monongahela 
valley, Confederate scouts visited McConnellsburg, 
Fulton county, and Mt. Union, Huntingdon county. 
On Monday morning, June 15, a detachment of Lee's 
army, Jenkins' cavalry, entered Greencastle, and in the 
evening the streets of Chambersburg again resounded 
with the clatter of Southern troopers. After scouring 
Franklin and Fulton counties for horses and provi- 
sions, the force proceeded to Shippensburg and thence 
to Carlisle, regaling themselves and baiting their steeds 
at the expense of the public authorities. Next came 
General Ewell with the vanguard of Lee's entire 
army. He arrived at Carlisle on the 27th of June, 
a few hours after Jenkins. Ewell made a requisition 
for a large amount of supplies, including even qui- 



The Administration of the Government 223 

nine and chloroform. His force remained at Carlisle 
until the night of the 30th. They destroyed the rail- 
road bridge? threatened Harrisburg by making raids 
in that direction to within a few miles of the city, 
and caused vast numbers of the population of the 
Cumberland valley to flee across the Susquehanna, 
with horses, cattle, and movable things of every 
description. 

At Harrisburg there was great consternation. 
Earthworks and other defenses, known Great 

as Fort Washington, were erected on the consternation 
west side of the river. Governor Curtin, on the 26th, 
hearing of the approach of the invaders, called for 
60,000 men to defend the State. Even the veterans 
of the war of 1812 tendered their services, so great 
was the necessity of the hour. General W. F. Smith, 
who was put in command of the volunteers, marched 
into Carlisle as Ewell marched out. Scarcely had Smith 
encamped, when a body of Confederate cavalry reap- 
peared, and, after firing, demanded the surrender of 
the town. This was refused. Then the town was 
shelled and set on fire ; but the Confederates were 
needed elsewhere — the battle of Gettysburg had 
begun. 

Early's division of EwelPs corps was sent in 
advance of Lee's army in the direction r^^^ Bridge 
of Gettysburg, by way of Cashtown. At at wrightsviiie 
the latter place, this force was divided, 
Gordon's brigade taking temporary possession of Get- 
tysburg on the 26th, while Early himself proceeded to 
York, and occupied that town the next day. As soon 
as York had learned of the approach of the Confed- 
erates, the small body of troops stationed there fell 



224 A History of Pennsylvania 

back to Wrightsville. Here a slight skirmish 
occurred ; but the bridge having been set on fire by 
the citizens of the town, the enemy could go no 
farther. At a public meeting, the people of York, on 
demand of General Early, contributed goods and 
money to the amount of $35,000. No damage was 
done to private property ; but the railroad suffered 
some loss. 

The most important side -skirmish connected with 
The Skirmish thc battlc of Gettysburg was the cavalry 
at Hanover engagement at Hanover, York county, ^ 
between General Kirkpatrick and General Stuart. 
The latter had not crossed the Potomac with Lee, and 
his whereabouts were unknown. On June 30, while 
General Kirkpatrick' s troopers, dismounted in the 
streets, were eating a luncheon served by the people 
of Hanover, Stuart suddenlj^ attacked the rear and 
threw it into confusion. Moving out into the open 
country, the Union cavalry formed in line of battle 
and, after fighting until dark, drove the enemy from 
their position. 

The attempts to secure the bridges at Harrisburg 
Gettysburg- and Wrightsvillc having failed, it became 
The First Day gvidcut that a battle would have to be 
fought on the west side of the Susquehanna. So 
when Lee halted on the diamond at Chambersburg, 
he turned his tired horse to the right and rode towards 
Gettysburg instead of Harrisburg. Meade's army had 
been marching northward, to the east of Lee's, in the 
general direction of Harrisburg. General Reynolds, 
second to Meade in command, was on the extreme 
left with the 1st Corps, closely watching the move- 
ments of the enemy. At Gettysburg, July 1, he met 



The Administration of the Government 225 



the advance forces, under General Hill, as they were 
about to enter the town. And now the great battle 
was on. But it had scarcely begun when the Union 
army suffered its greatest loss. While General 
Reynolds was riding forward to select ground for a 
line of battle, he fell, pierced 
through the head by a ball 
from a sharpshooter's rifle. 
Doubleday, who succeeded 
him, fought desperately on 
Seminary Ridge till the hot 
July sun stood at high noon. 
General Howard then came 
up with the 11th Corps. 
The enemy charged upon 
him with a tremendous force, 
threatening to overlap both 
flanks. He ordered a re- 
treat, and the two bleed- 
ing and exhausted corps 
fled through the streets of Gettysburg to Cemetery 
Hill. When Meade, who was still some fifteen miles 
away, and did not arrive till late at night, heard of 
the death of Reynolds, he ordered General Hancock 
to leave the 2d Corps and hasten to Gettysburg to 
assume command of the forces already there. The 
Union army — 100,000 strong — now came up, one corps 
after another, and during the night took position 
(in the form of a fish-hook) on Cemetery Ridge 
as far back as Round Top on the left and Culp's 
Hill on the right. Lee's line, similar in form, but 
much longer, was along Seminary Ridge. His army 
numbered about 80,000. 




Reynolds' Mon*iment, on. 
Seminary Ridge. 



226 



A History of Pennsylvania 



The Second Day 



The second day, until 3 o'clock, was spent by 
both armies in removing fences, digging 
rifle-pits, building stone defenses, strength- 
ening weak points, distributing ammunition, and pro- 
viding hospitals. About 4 o'clock Lee opened fire on 

Meade's left. General 
Sickles was in command 
thei-e, with the 3d Corps, 
and by some mistake 
had taken an isolated 
position . Instantly both 
lines in that quarter were 
a blaze of artillery and 
musketry. Longstreet's 
Confederate corps came 
on like the resistless 
tide. The Union troops 
wavered and fell back. 
Sickles was wounded 
and carried off the field. 
Humphreys lost 2,000 
of his 5,000 men in 
getting back to the posi- 
tion intended to be oc- 
cupied in the first place. A division of reinforcements 
sent over from Hancock's corps lost two brigadiers — 
Zook and Cross. But there was a natural stronghold 
near by — Little Round Top. By the foresight of 
General Warren, this was saved to the Union forces, 
but the blood shed at this point, which included 
the famous Devil's Den, was most appalling. Had 
Longstreet taken Round Top, the assaults on the 
lines next to Cemeterj' Hill could not have been with- 




Meade's Statue. 
In FairmoTint Park, Philadelphia. 



The Administration of the Government 227 



stood. As it was, the action there soon ended ; 
but not before Hancock and the general next in 
command of the 2d Corps were both wounded. 

Just as the curtain of night was falling upon the 
scene of carnage on the left, General The Louisiana 
Ewell attacked Cemetery Hill, held by tigers 

Howard's corps. It was here where the Louisiana 
Tigers made their famous assault. Those desperate 
fighters came up to the very mouths of the cannon 
and actually spiked two of the Union guns. At this 
critical moment a brigade of German troops fell upon 
the victorious Tigers, and in a hand-to-hand charge 
drove them down the hillside. It was the Waterloo 
of the Tigers. 

Lee had now attacked the whole Union line except 

the extreme 
right, held by 
General Slocum, with the 
12th Corps. Here Gen- 
eral Early, of EwelPs 
corps, under cover of 




Where Hancock was wounded. 



darkness and timber, began a vigorous attack on 
Gulp's Hill and points beyond, but was bravely 



228 A Sistory of Pennsylvania 

repulsed. However, there was a gap in the Union line, 
caused by the withdrawal of General Geary to the 
support of Round Top. Taking advantage of this, 
the enemy broke through and got within a third of 
a mile of Meade's headquarters. 

The break made in Geary's division the evening 
before naturally caused the battle to be 

The Third Day "^ 

renewed in that quarter early m the morn- 
ing of the third day. Geary, having returned, opened 
a furious cannonade to dislodge the intruders. Ewell, 
who had been reinforced by parts of Longstreet's and 
Hill's corps during the night, responded with fatal 
effect all along the line of Slocum, even to Cemetery 
Hill ; but it Avas solid now and well defended. In 
front of Geary's command, the slain were lying in 
heaps. At 10 o'clock Ewell fell back, and the. battle 
of Gettysburg on the right ended. 

Then there was a pause of three hours — an omi- 
nous silence, such as sometimes goes 

Pickett's Charge 

before a crash of thunder. Lee was 
massing his artillery of 115 guns opposite Cemetery 
Hill. Meade saw Avhat was proposed to be done, and 
prepared for it. At 1 o'clock the signal gun was 
fired on Seminary Ridge. For two hours an artillery 
duel raged such as had never shaken the atmosphere 
of either continent. Trees, rocks, and tombstones 
were shattered — horses and men were mangled — 
guns, swords, and cannon were dyed in blood. When 
it ceased, Pickett's brave Virginians, who had just 
reached the battle-field, made their famous charge 
upon the Union center. Nothing in history sur- 
passes it in heroism and sacrifice. When they neared 
the coveted hill, seventy iron throats poured grape, 




The Administration of the Government 229 

shell, and canister upon them. Yet on they went, 
even to the cannon's mouth, and for one brief 
moment a Confederate flag waved over the Union 
guns. But Hancock's 
infantry quickly ad- 
vanced and recovered 
the lost ground. The 
raw troops with whom 
Pettigrew was to sup- 
port the charge gave 
way at the same mo- 
ment, and Pickett was 
left alone to contend 
with the Union forces ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ""^ ^^^ ^^^^i War. 
now pressing him on every side. The usual sequel 
of retreat did not follow. Pickett's charge ended 
in almost total destruction. The field on which he 
fought had been mown with the scythe of Death. 

During the time of this last and supreme effort of 
Lee, there was a general movement against ^j^^ Reserves 
Meade's army all along the line ; but it and Gregg's 
was of little consequence elsewhere. On cavairy 

the left, in front of Little Round Top, the Pennsyl- 
vania Reserves drove back Hood and McLaws, cap- 
turing 5,000 stand of arms and taking 300 prisoners. 
On the right. General Gregg gained a decisive victory 
over Stuart in a cavalry engagement. The following 
morning Lee was on the retreat to the Potomac ; but 
that day and the next were employed by Meade "in 
succoring the wounded and burying the dead." Gov- 
ernor Curtin soon afterwards proposed to the Governors 
of the different States whose regiments took part in 
the battle, that a cemetery be purchased for the final 



230 A History of Pennsylvania 

burial of the Union dead. The grounds embraced in 
this cemetery were at first owned by this State, and 
the expenses of maintaining them borne by the sav- 
eral States interested. The cemetery was dedicated 
November 19, 1863, as Abraham Lincoln said on that 
occasion, to be " a final resting place for those who 
here gave their lives that the nation might live." In 
1872 the United States government succeeded to the 
ownership and management. The entire battlefield is 
now the property of the nation, and the position of 
every military organization which fought upon the 
field has been marked by monuments, not to decay by 
the touch of Time. And Gettysburg will be the Mecca 
of patriots as long as our fair land endures. 

In 1864, the Confederates once more made a raid 
The Burning of luto Pennsylvania, and burned Chambers- 
chambersburg burg. Thcy appeared outside of the town 
on the evening of the 29th of July, but were delayed 
in their entrance until daylight of the 30th. They 
planted two batteries and fired a few shots before 
the whole column of 3,000 entered. Soon after the 
occupation, McCausland, the commander, demanded 
$500,000 in greenbacks or $100,000 in gold, to be 
paid within half an hour. On refusal, the town was 
to be burned. He was told that " Chambersburg 
could not and tvoiild not pay any ransom." Then he 
had the court-house bell rung for a public meeting; 
but no one attended. Arrests of prominent citizens 
were next ordered, and threats were made to carry 
them to Richmond if they did not pay the ransom. 
When all this proved to no purpose, he set the town 
on fire. In a few hours $3,000,000 worth of property 
was destroj^ed, 3,000 people were left homeless and 



The Administration of the Government 231 

many of them penniless, and for miles around the 
country was crowded with terror-stricken refugees. 
Chambersburg was the only town totally destroyed, 
within the limits of the Union States. 

At the close of the war, Governor Curtin, in a 
special message to the Legislature, said Pennsylvania's 
that "the resources of Pennsylvania, Battle Flags 
whether in men or money, have neither been withheld 
nor squandered." The State furnished, all told, 270 
regiments and several unattached companies, number- 
ing 387,284 men. Every regiment was supplied with 
a battle-flag, emblazoned with the number of the 
regiment and the coat -of -arms of the Commonwealth. 
The Reserves and other early regiments were provided 
with flags bearing additional inscriptions of battles 
of the Revolution, the war of 1812, and the Mexican 
war, participated in by Pennsylvania regiments of 
the same number. These flags were presented by 
Governor Curtin in person. Most of them have 
since been returned to the State, some tattered and 
torn and stained with blood. They constitute an in- 
teresting relic, and are preserved in the Executive 
Building of the Capitol at Harrisburg. 

When the Pennsylvania regiments were drawn up 
to receive their battle -flags. Governor The sowiers' 
Curtin always pledged the State to sus- orphans 

tain, clothe and educate the children of those who 
had families. So when, in 1863, Colonel Thomas 
A. Scott, on behalf of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company, donated $50,000 for bounties to volunteers, 
it was decided to use that fund in another way; 
namely, to establish schools for soldiers' orphans. 
A number of schools willing to take pupils were 




232 A History of Pennsylvania 

selected in various parts of the State, and by 1865 
266 soldiers' orphans were enrolled in them. Through 
this measure, Pennsylvania erected a monument to 
her soldiers that is more enduring than the granite 
columns that have been raised on the battlefields. 
At the election for a successor to the great "War 
Governor," John W. Geary, the Repub- 
lican candidate, received a majority of 
17,000 votes over Hiester Clymer, the 
Democratic candidate. Gearj^ was Gov- 
ernor for two terms — from 1867 to 
1873. The whole country, but more 
especially the North, prospered greatly 
John w. Geary. ^f^gj, ^jj^ ^^^ Pennsylvania, with its 

vast material resources, enjoyed unusual business 
activity. However, there was one section in the State to 
which the ravages of the war were a decided drawback. 
It embraced the so-called " border counties" — York, 
Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, and 
Perry. These suffered greatly on account of the 
depredations that had been committed in the course 
of the various invasions. When the Legislature ^as 
appealed to for aid, it passed an act in 1868 by 
which the claims for damages were satisfied in some 
degree. The national government has likewise made 
reparation for many losses, and is still appealed to 
for the settlement of others. 

Aside from " the saw -dust war," — a disturbance in 
Governor WilHamsport, in 1871, requiring the pres- 
Hartranft q^qq ^f ^\^q military, — the Commonwealth 
enjoyed peace and tranquillity until 1872. That 
year the Liberal Republicans (see any U. S. his- 
tory) nominated Horace Greeley, editor of the New 




The Administration of the Government 233 

York Tribune, against President Grant, who was the 
regular Republican candidate for a second term. The 
Democrats had practically no candidate, but indorsed 
Greeley. The canvass throughout the country was 
marked by intense partisan feeling which affected 
the campaign for Governor. The Re- 
publican nominee was General John 
F. Hartranft ; the Democratic, Charles 
R. Buckalew. A number of prom- 
inent Republicans in Pennsylvania 
joined the ranks of the Liberals and 
supported Buckalew for Governor. 
After a great political battle, Har- 
tranft was elected. At this election, J«i^^ f. Hartranft. 
the Prohibitionists for the first time presented a 
candidate — S. B. Chase — for Governor. He received 
1,259 votes. 

The great financial crisis of 1873 marked the end 
of the prosperous times that followed The Financial 
the war. It was precipitated upon the ^"^'^ °^ ^^^^ 
country from Philadelphia, by the failure of Jay Cooke 
& Co., who were forced to close the doors of their 
banking-house on the 18th of September. Before 
night, "runs" were made on the other banks of the city, 
and in a few days a number of them had to suspend. 
These failures began the long train of business and 
labor difficulties that made the next few years so 
dark to trade and industry. Early the next year a 
railroad strike occurred at Susquehanna, because the 
New York and Erie road did not make monthly 
payments promptly. Troops had to be sent by the 
Governor to restore order. About this time, too, 
disturbances in the coal regions began to be serious. 



234 A History of Pennsylvania 

The first strike of any consequence occurred in the 
anthracite section in 1868, for an eight -hour day. 
It was not successful, but it resulted in a compact 
organization of the miners. In 1871, the State militia 
had to be sent to Scranton on account of a strike 
against reduction of wages. It was settled by ar- 
bitration, — the first noteworthy example of this mode 
of settlement in the United States. Other strikes of 
minor importance occurred ; but on January 1, 1875, 
the miners of the Lehigh and Schuylkill regions 
went out on what became known as the " long strike." 
It lasted until July, and ended in the unconditional 
surrender of the miners. It was generally peaceable ; 
but at one time the Governor had to send the militia 
to quell disorder. 

On July 4, 1874, ground was broken in Phila- 
city Hall and the dclphia for the Centennial Exhibition 

Centennial buildiugs, aud thc comer-stonc of 

the City Hall was laid. The latter is the largest 
public building in America, built of white marble, 
in the renaissance style. The main tower, 547 feet 
high, surmounted by a statue of William Penn, 36 
feet high and facing northeast in the direction of 
the famous elm, is the highest in the world. The 
building contains some 500 rooms, and has a floor 
area of 14% acres. It has alreadj- cost about 
$22,000,000, and is not completed. The Centennial 
Exhibition, which was to commemorate the Declara- 
tion of Independence, had made such progress by 
July 4, 1875, that the colossal figure of Columbia, 
on Memorial Hall, was unveiled on that day. For 
Memorial Hall, the State and Philadelphia appropri- 
ated the money ; otherwise the Centennial was an 



The Administration of the Government 235 



enterprise of the whole country. About 180 buildings 
were erected on the grounds. The five great build- 
ings were the Main Exhibition Building, Machinery 
Hall, Memorial Hall, Agricultural Hall and Horticul- 




City Hall, Philadelphia. 

tural Hall. The States of the Union each had a build- 
ing ; and so had the United States, the foreign govern- 
ments and some enterprising individuals. The four 
great days were the opening day, May 10 ; Indepen- 
dence Day, July 4 ; Pennsylvania Day, September 28 ; 
and closing day, November 10. The Fourth of July 
had brought to Philadelphia a large number of people 
from all over the United States, but Pennsylvania 
Day was the most memorable to this State ; for on 



236 



A History of Pennsylvania 



that day 275,000 of its people surged through the 
grounds of the Exhibition. The highest attendance 
before that had been 99,000. The closing day oc- 




The Centennial Exhibition. 

curred under the gloom of a bitter Presidential contest 
in the United States, and, excepting the magnificent 
pyrotechnic display in the evening, was uneventful. 
President Grant gave the signal for closing the Exhi- 
bition, and instantly the great Corliss engine in 
Machinery Hall ceased to move. 

The year 1877 is noted for the most extensive 
The Railroad aiid dcstructivc Hots that ever broke out 

Riots jj^ Pennsylvania. They grew out of the 

great railroad strike inaugurated throughout the 
United States on the 14th of July. At Pittsburg 
some two thousand freight cars were destroyed, many 
railroad buildings laid in ashes, and miles of tracks 
torn up. The sheriff was helpless against the lawless 
mob who took advantage of the strike and engaged in 
plunder and destruction. Governor Hartranft was 
en route on a visit to the Pacific coast, and had to 
return. On the 22d of July, before reaching home, 



The Administration of the Government 237 

he telegraphed an order calling* out the National 
Guard. But the armed mob was not to be dispersed 
by the State troops, and United States troops had to 
be brought upon the scene before quiet could be 
restored. The disturbance at Pittsburg was the signal 
for disorder at other points. At Philadelphia and 
Harrisburg it was nipped in the bud. At Reading the 
railroad bridge across the Schuylkill was burned, and 
the National Guard came into fatal collision with a 
body of strikers in the streets. A company of United 
States troops were encamped there until, late in the 
fall. At Scranton and Wilkes -Barre passenger trains 
were fired at as they passed through, and the tracks 
greased to stop them. In this section the miners, 
too, went on a strike, but the military prevented any 
destruction of property such as characterized the 
strike at Reading and Pittsburg. 

At the election for Governor in 1878 there were 
four candidates — Henry M. Hoyt, Repub- 

A n -r-r T^.i T^ fx 1 Govcmor Hoyt 

lican ; Andrew H. Dill, Democrat ; Samuel 
R. Mason, Greenback ; and Franklin H. Lane, Prohi- 
bition. The Republican candidate was elected. Tn 
January, 1879, the first Legislature 
holding a biennial session met. The 
industries were still suffering from 
hard times, but there were signs 
of returning prosperity present. Gov- 
ernor Hoyt, in his inaugural, reminded 
the people that they spent more than 
they earned, that the extravagance 
of the rich is not the gain of the ^-^^^Hoyt. 
poor, that waste and profusion are not for the good 
of trade. Then, too, frequent assassinations and 




238 A History of Pennsylvania 

other outrages were committed on justices, con- 
stables and mining bosses in the anthracite 
regions. To expose these lawless deeds and bring 
the criminals to justice, detectives had to be em- 
ployed. Plots and counter -plots were laid and a 
feeling of great uneasiness prevailed. Governor Har- 
tranft, in his last message, advocated arbitration and 
conciliation as a better policy than repression to 
restore tranquillity. The State had paid annually for 
eight years $100,000 for the suppression of labor 
troubles. 

The Legislature of 1879 ordered an investigation of 
Important two sham mcdical colleges in Philadelphia, 
Measures which sold diplomas to applicants without a 
knowledge of medicine. It authorized another peni- 
tentiary, which two years later became the Hunting- 
don Reformatory. It reorganized the National Guard, 
which was made to consist of 8,220 officers and 
enlisted men in a single division — three brigades, 
three batteries of artillery, the battalion of State Fen- 
cibles, and two independent companies. 

In 1881, an effort was made by the Legislature to 
have the remains of William Penn 
removed from the graveyard at Jor- 
dan's meeting-house, in Buckinghamshire, England, 
and interred in Philadelphia. The heirs of Penn 
objected ; but the absence of his bones did not mar 
the bi- centennial celebration of his arrival in the 
good ship Welcome. The affair was begun at Chester, 
on Monday, October 23, 1882. Some characters rep- 
resenting William Penn and his colonists landed at 
the foot of Penn street, where they were received by 
Lieutenant Markham and a group of Quakers, Swedes 



The Administration of the Government 239 

and Indians, appropriately costumed. At midnight 
two hundred strokes of the State House bell 
announced the beginning of "landing day" in Phila- 
delphia. Fully 500,000 strangers were in the city 
to see the Welcome come up the Delaware, about 9 
o'clock in the morning. The landing was made at 
the foot of Dock street, according to tradition. A 
procession was formed, and at the grand stand 
Governor Hoyt greeted Penn and his suite. The 
founder then made an address, to which Sachem Tam- 
anend, of the Delawares, made a reply. The proces- 
sion, which included more than 20,000 men in line, 
and required four and a half hours in passing, was 
very unique. It showed the gradual progress made 
during the two centuries of the State's existence. The 
festivities continued until Friday. 

At the election in 1882, there were five candidates 
for Governor; viz., Robert E. Pattison, Governor 
Democrat ; James A. Beaver, Republican ; Pattison 
John Stewart, Independent Republican ; Thomas A. 
Armstrong, Greenback - Labor ; and 
Alfred C. Pettit, Prohibition. As 
Governor Hoyt said in his last mes- 
sage, "the people determined upon a 
change," for the Democratic candidate 
was elected. Following the example 
of President Jefferson, Mr. Pattison 
would not ride in a carriage from the 
depot at Harrisburg, but walked to ^ ^^ 
the hotel at the time of his inauguration. In his 
messages, too, he advocated economy in the public 
service, recommending various reforms intended to 
lessen expenses. 




240 A History of Pennsylvania 

On the day fixed by the Legislature for adjourn- 
A Long Extra ment, June 6, 1883, the Governor called 
Session ^^ extra session to meet the following 
day. The object was to redistrict the State into 
senatorial and representative districts, in obedience to 
the Constitution, Article II., section 18 ; also to make 
a new apportionment in congressional and judicial 
districts. The Legislature had failed to do this work 
at the regular session, because the two houses, being 
of different political complexion, could not agree. 
The extra session continued until December 6. Bills 
were introduced to meet the purpose of the call; but 
only the one rearranging the judicial districts became 
a law. The others failed on account of political dis- 
agreements. The expense incurred was heavy and 
caused much dissatisfaction. The members were paid 
ten dollars per diem. To avoid a recurrence of so 
great an expense through an extra session, the law 
was changed in 1885. The compensation for both 
the regular and extra sessions now is a fixed amount, 
— $1,500 for the regular and $500 for the extra, 
regardless of the length. Other important legislation 
at the session of 1885 was creating corporations for 
the production, conveyance and distribution of nat- 
ural gas; requesting the Governor to designate a day 
as Arbor Day; and requiring in the common schools 
the study of physiology and hygiene, with special 
reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants 
and narcotics. 

The question of temperance received attention in 
Temperance and othcr dircctious also about this time. 
Prohibition ^g g^j^iy j^g ;^g72^ Pennsylvania put a 

local option law upon the statute books, but it 



The Administration of the Government 241 

was repealed soon afterwards. With the sudden 
growth of the Prohibition party in the Presiden- 
tial campaign of 1884, there came a demand for legis- 
lation to restrict, and even to prohibit, the liquor 
traffic. There were at the time 7,000 licensed drink- 
ing places in Philadelphia alone. In obedience to a 
loud call from all over the State, the Legislature in 
1887 passed the so-called "high license" bill, which 
fixed the fees for the right to sell liquor at retail as 
high as $500 and $300 in cities, and proportionately 
high in boroughs and townships. At the same time, 
an amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the 
manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor as a bev- 
erage, was proposed. This proposition having been 
agreed to also by the next Legislature, an election was 
held June 18, 1889, for the purpose of ratifying or 
rejecting the amendment. A very spirited campaign 
ensued ; but the amendment was lost by a vote of 
484,644 to 296,617, the vote by counties being 3S 
against it and 28 for it. Later on, the "high license" 
act was amended so as to increase the amount in 
cities of first and second class. 

At the election for Governor in 1886 there were 
four candidates, as follows : James A. ^^^ g^^^^ 

Beaver, Republican ; Chauncey F. Black, Assumes 

Democrat; Charles S. Wolf, Prohibition; ^ew Duties 
and Robert J. Houston, Greenback. The Republican 
candidate was successful. The Legislature in 1887 
did what it had been asked to do by Governor Patti- 
son when he called the extra session in 1883. The 
State was apportioned into twenty -eight congressional 
districts, and representative districts were provided 
for 204 members of the House. At this session, too. 



242 



A History of Pennsylvania 




James A. Beaver. 



the appropriation for common schools was increased 
from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000; the dissemination of 
vile literature was declared to be a misdemeanor; the 
"eastern standard" time was made the standard 
throughout the Commonwealth ; the 
culture of trees was encouraged and 
their wilful destruction prohibited ; 
and hospitals were established for 
persons injured in the coal fields. It 
is seen from the nature of these laws 
that the State assumed new duties 
and responsibilities about this time, 
doing things that used to be done 
by the people in their private capacity or were not 
done at all. The employment of women and children 
in factories was regulated and provision made 
for their safety, while the fish in the streams and the 
game in the forest were protected against ruthless 
destruction. 

Another example of the 

The Johnstown growiug iutcrCSt 

Fi°°'i of the State in 
its people was furnished bj^ 
the floods of 1889. On May 
31 the regions of the West 3 
Branch of the Susquehanna, 
the Juniata, and Conemaugh 
rivers were visited by floods 
which had no parallel in 
history. Many villages, towns 
and cities on the eastern 
slope of the AUeghanies were, 
for a time, rendered utterly helpless. 




John Baker. 



On the western 



The Administration of the Government 243 

slope, Johnstown and its neighboring towns were almost 
obliterated. Three thousand lives were lost' in the 
Conemaugh valley, more quickly than the story of the 
disaster can be told. The cause of this terrible loss 




The Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge and the Wreckage above It. 

of life was the breaking of a dam covering 600 acres 
of land and calculated to hold 500,000,000 cubic feet 
of water. It was situated on the South Fork, two 
miles south of the junction with the Conemaugh and 
ten miles east of Johnstown. On the afternoon of 
May 31 it rose slowly until it poured over the top. 
Then some old leakages became larger, the breast 
broke, and the water rushed forth like a demon. John 
Baker, the Paul Revere of the occasion, rode a race 
with it for a while and saved many people; but the 
death -dealing wave, now laden with trees, houses, 
wreckage and human beings, defied steam whistles 
and telegraphic instruments. It ploughed through 
South Fork, Mineral Point, Franklin, East Conemaugh, 
Woodvale, Conemaugh, Johnstown, Kernville, Mill- 



244 A History of Pennsylvania 

ville, and Cambria. It was late in the afternoon, and 
the night that followed was one of unutterable agony. 
Morning dawned upon a scene that beggared descrip- 
tion; and when the people learned what had happened 
at Johnstown, they extended aid and sympathy as 
unparalleled as the catastrophe itself. Relief commit- 
tees were organized in Philadelphia and Pittsburg to 
furnish aid and to help bury the dead. Governor 
Beaver appointed a Flood Relief Commission to dis- 
tribute a fund that had swelled to more than 
$1,000,000. The State Board of Health was early 
on the ground to enforce the sanitary laws, and the 
military came there to preserve order. To pay the 
State's expenses, generous men of means advanced the 
money till the Legislature would reimburse them. 
There never was a more beautiful example of public 
and private charity in all history. 

At the election for Governor in 1890, there were 
Governor again four candidates : Robert E. Pattison, 
Pattison Democrat ; George W. Delamater, Repub- 
lican ; John D. Gill, Prohibition ; and T. P. Rynder, 
Labor. Mr. Pattison was elected for a second term. 
Under the Constitution of 1873, a person holding the 
office of Governor is not eligible for the next suc- 
ceeding term. Probably the most important act of 
the Legislature of 1891 was the passage of the "Ballot 
Reform Law." The voter was not sufficiently free 
and independent in casting his ballot, and the cry for 
purer elections was heard all over the Commonwealth. 
The law passed is known as the Australian system, 
the nature of which is that it preserves to a man 
freedom and secrecy in the discharge of his duty as 
an elector. 



The Administration of the Government 245 

The years 1891 and 1892 are memorable on 
account of great labor troubles. On the 

_ Labor Troubles 

2d of April, 1891, the sheriff of West- 
moreland county telegraphed to the Governor that 
seven persons had been killed and twenty -one 
wounded at Moorewood, and that he was unable to 
suppress the disorder. Two regiments of the National 
Guard were sent there, and order was at once restored. 
The following year, on July 6, the sheriff of Alle- 
gheny county telegraphed to Harrisburg that a colli- 
sion with fatal results had occurred at Homestead 
between striking workingmen and armed deputies and 
watchmen, and that he was unable to cope with the 
rioters. The cause of the strike was that the Car- 
negie Steel Company attempted to reduce the wages 
of some of its employes, who numbered about 4,000 
men. Those who refused to accept the new scale of 
wages were locked out, and then the trouble began. 
One act followed another until the men locked out 
had practical possession of the works. The company 
now brought a force of Pinkerton detectives from 
Chicago to protect its own property. When these 
arrived in barges from Pittsburg, they were attacked 
as they attempted to land and a serious riot ensued, 
in which the Pinkertons got the worst. About a 
dozen lives were lost and scores of persons were 
wounded. When the National Guard arrived, the 
town was well-nigh under the reign of mob law; but 
a two -weeks' presence of the Second and Third Bri- 
gades restored order. The Homestead riot and other 
labor troubles caused much agitation in and out of 
the Legislature for several years in favor of a board 
of arbitration to settle all labor difficulties in the State. 



246 A History of Pennsylvania 

At the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, 
, . in 1893, the Legislature spent $300,000 

Pennsylvania ' ° 

at the to show the products of farm and tac- 

World'sFair ^^^^^ ^-^^ ^^^ ^.|j^ ^^.^ ^^<J CduCatioU, 

and all the best results of the State's material 
prosperity. The Pennsylvania State Building, with 
its facsimile State House tower, and its old Lib- 
erty Bell in the main entrance, was a favorite 
spot at the World's Fair. In the same year a 
beautiful building was erected at Harrisburg, to be 
used by the Executive Department and the State Li- 
brary. It cost half a million dollars, and was made 
fireproof to preserve the official records, documents 
and books. The Library contains about 100,000 vol- 
umes and is, with a single exception, the most valua- 
ble State library in the country. 

At the election for Governor in 1894, there were 
Governor fivc Candidates, as follows: Daniel H. Hast- 
Hastings i^gg^ RepubUcau ; William M. Singerly, 
Democrat; Charles I. Hawley, Prohibition; Jerome T. 
Allman, People's; and Thomas H.Grundy, Socialist- 
Labor. Hastings' majority was with- 
out a parallel in the history of guber- 
natorial elections. The Legislature of 
1895 made a very marked expansion 
in the public service. It created a 
number of new departments and 
offices. The agricultural department, 
with its kindred industries of dairy 
and food supplies, horticulture and 
Daniel H. Hastings, f^j^ggi^ry, was established in the inter- 
ests of farmers. A banking department was created to 
execute the laws of banking and financial institutions 




The Administration of the Government 247 

in general. A new court of seven judges — the 
Superior Court — was established to lessen the work 
of the Supreme Court . 

On Tuesday, February 2, 1897, the clock in the 
tower of the State Capitol struck twelve ^he capitoi 
o^ clock noon as usual ; but when it struck Destroyed 
again, it tolled its own death -knell, for at 
1 o'clock the fire that destroyed the historic building 
on that day had already encircled the dome like a 
hydra -headed serpent; and the old clock and all that 
was dear about Pennsylvania's capitoi was doomed to 
be no more. Many books and records that could not 
be replaced were destroyed. The old building had 
an interesting history. It had witnessed the inaugu- 
ration of sixteen Governors; Presidents Harrison, 
Tyler, Taylor, Lincoln, Grant and Hayes had been 
within its walls, and Webster entranced an audience 
in it with his eloquence, Lafayette was tendered a 
public reception in the old Senate chamber, and in 
1860 a similar honor was accorded to the Prince of 
Wales. The Legislature, after the fire, resumed its 
sessions in Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, of 
Harrisburg. A new Capitol building was author- 
ized to be erected, fire -proof and of the renaissance 
style of architecture, the cost not to exceed $550,000. 
Work was begun in the summer of 1898, the corner- 
stone was laid on the 10th of August, and the build- 
ing was occupied by the Legislature January 3, 1899. 

Extensive strikes again broke out in the coal 
regions in the summer of 1897. In the Extensive 
bituminous fields of western Pennsylvania ^*"''^^ 

one was in progress from July 4 to September 11, 
having been a part of a general movement extending 



248 A History of Pennsylvania 

over West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In' 
the main it was peaceable. A new method of restrain- 
ing the strikers was put into effect ; namely, the 
courts granted injunctions enjoining the strikers from 
assembling in the paths and roads upon the property 
of the mining companies, and from interfering with 
such employes as desired to work. Scarcely had the 
bituminous strike ended when one broke out in the 
anthracite region. The miners wanted higher wages, 
and tried to stop the collieries by inducing other 
miners not to work. On September 10 the sheriff of 
Luzerne county, with about a hundred deputies, met a 
body of strikers — mostly Hungarians, Poles, Lithu- 
anians, and Slavs — who were marching to a colliery 
at Lattimer to persuade others to join them. Con- 
sidering such a demonstration unlawful, he ordered 
them to disperse. Some tried to force their way past 
him. In an instant the deputies fired into the miners, 
killing some twenty and wounding about fifty others. 
Three thousand troops of the National Guard were 
soon tented about Hazleton, and no further violence 
occurred. The sheriff and his deputies were arraigned 
for murder, but they were acquitted on the ground 
that they had not overstepped the bounds of reason 
in trying to preserve order. 

On the 21st of April, 1898, the United States, after 
The Spanish thirty -three j^ears of peace, became involved 

^^ in a war with Spain. Two days later. 
President McKinley called for 125,000 volunteers. 
Pennsylvania's quota was 10,762. Governor Hastings 
ordered the National Guard — 9,222 men — to mobilize 
at Mount Gretna, where they, and others needed to 
fill up the quota, w^ere sworn into the service of the 



The Administration of the Government 249 

United States for two j^ears unless sooner discharged. 
About a month later a call for 75,000 more volunteers 
was made, and Pennsylvania furnished 6,462 addi- 
tional men. The Tenth regiment was sent to 
Manila, and took part in a number of engagements 
during the year's service in the Philippines. The 
Sixteenth, the Fourth, and the cavalry and artillery 
were sent to Porto Rico. The Sixteenth was engaged 
at the capture of Coamo. The other Pennsylvania 
regiments, though equally anxious to fight, had to 
content themselves with camp duty in the United 
States. 

At the election for Governor in 
1898, there were four candidates : 
William A. Stone, Republican ; , ,^,^ 
George A. Jenks, Democrat; Silas C.^^ 
Swallow, Prohibitionist, People's, S 
Liberty and Honest Government ; and 
J. Mahlon Barnes, Socialist -Labor, wniiam a. stone. 
The Republican candidate was elected ; and his admin- 
istration began January 17, 1899. 

BOOKS FOR READING AND CONSULTATION 

Fisher's Pennsylvania Colony and Commonwealth, passim; 
Egle's History of Pennsylvania, pp. 45-276; Seharf and West- 
eott's History of Philadelphia, Vol. I; Proud's History of Penn- 
sylvs.nia; Gordon's History of Pennsylvania; Armor's Lives of 
the Governors of Pennsylvania; Carpenter and Arthur's History 
of Pennsylvania; McMaster and Stone's Pennsylvania and the 
Federal Constitution; Colonial Becords and Pennsylvania Archives ; 
Votes and Minutes of the Assembly, 1682-1790 ; The Governors^ 
Messages in the House and Senate Journals, 1790-1898 ; Statutes 
at Large of Pennsylvania; Pepper and Lewis' Digest of the 
Laws of Pennsylvania. 




CHAPTER VI 
THE INDUSTRIAL HISTORY 

Before the Revolutionarj- war, Pennsylvania's chief 
Commerce and industries Were agriculture and commerce. 
Agriculture Like the other colonies in America, the 

before 1775 proviucc was prohibited by Great Britain 

from engaging in manufacturing. Sawmills and grist 
mills were numerous along the creeks, for the settlers had 
to have lumber for dwellings, and flour for bread ; but 
other manufactures were confined to a few simple 
articles for home consumption. 

The first articles of trade were furs, skins, and 
tobacco, obtained from the Indians. This primit-ive 
commerce increased rapidly in variety and quantity. 
In 1731, the exports were wheat, flour, biscuit, beef, 
pork, butter, cheese, cider, apples, soap, candles, 
starch, hair-powder, leather, wax, beer, linseed oil, 
peltry, hemp, lumber and drugs (sassafras, calamus, 
aromatics, snakeroot, etc.). 

A number of ships were built each year for sale, 
over and above what were employed by the merchants. 
Great quantities of corn were sent to Portugal and 
Spain, the Canaries and the Azores, and frequently 
ship and cargo were sold. The proceeds were in- 
vested in England for manufactures needed in the 
province. An extensive trade sprang up with the 
West Indies, especially with the French and Dutch 
islands. What was not sold for cash was exchanged 

(250) 



The Industrial History 



251 



for rum, sugar and molasses. All the ports of the 
other English colonies, from New Hampshire to the 
Carolinas, were visited by ships from Philadelphia ; 
and Newfoundland fish were carried in Pennsylvania 
bottoms to Mediterranean and Caribbean ports. 

In 1740, the population of Pennsylvania had 
equaled and exceeded that of all the other Rank in 

colonies, except Maryland, Massachusetts, Population 
and Virginia. Ten years later, Maryland was passed 
in the race ; after the Revolution, Massachusetts ; 
and Virginia had to give 
up its place as second 
in the Union to Penn- 
sylvania in 1830 ; while 
for nearly a hundred 
years after 1750, Phila- 
delphia was the metrop- 
olis of America. When 
it is remembered that 
Pennsylvania is next to 
the youngest of the thir- 
teen original colonies, 
its rank as second in 
population and wealth, 
attained so early in its 
history, and kept to the 
present time, is a mat- 
ter of just pride. The 

commercial transactions of the province produced the 
greatest financiers of America. Robert Morris was 
the financier of the Revolution, and even before that 
time, he, with a few others, had established a credit 
in Europe, which was used for banking purposes 




Stephen Girard, City Hall, Philadelphia, 



252 A History of Pennsylvania 

among commercial men. The need of a bank in Phil- 
adelphia had been felt by her merchants long before 
the first one in America was established there, in 
1780. Stephen Girard amassed ten million dollars, 
and became the richest man in the United States. 

The decline of commerce dates from the War of 
Decline of 1812. During the Napoleonic wars, Penn- 
commerce sylvania, in common with all the colonies, 
enjoyed great commercial prosperity. Farm products 
were in great demand in Europe, and American ves- 
sels had to carry them because we were about the 
only neutral on the sea. But when England and 
France, by their orders and decrees against our ships 
and cargoes, made it necessary for Jefferson, in self- 
defense, to resort to embargo and non- intercourse, 
American commerce got a serious blow ; and for some 
reason, Philadelphia never recovered from it. With 
the completion of the Erie canal in 1825, New York 
became the commercial emporium of the United 
States. 

As long as Philadelphia was preeminent in com- 
merce, her wealth made her the chief patron 

Commercial ^ 

Prosperity and of litcraturc, scicncc and art, in America. 
Letters Audrcw Bradford's "American Weekly 

Mercury" (1719), the third newspaper in the colonies, 
Christopher Saur's High German "Pennsylvania His- 
toriographer" (1739), and Dr. Franklin's "General Mag- 
azine and Historical Chronicle" (1741), the first maga- 
zines, and John Dunlap's "American Daily Advertiser" 
(1784), the first daily paper, were the forerunners 
of the many books and periodicals that were to be 
sent forth from the Delaware. Two of the colonial 
newspapers, the "Pennsylvania Gazette" and the 



The Industrial History 253 

"Pennsylvania Journal," were carried through the 
Revolutionary period, and, together with the "Penn- 
sylvania Packet" (1771), exercised an incalculable 
influence in shaping the affairs of the new nation. 
Such men as Fenno, Bache and Duane made a last- 
ing impression upon United States history, in that 
they helped to shape and fashion the political parties. 

In the early part of the nineteenth century, such mag- 
azines as the "Portfolio" and "Graham's" filled the 
places now occupied by the "North American," 
"Forum," "Century," and others. Longfellow, 
Bryant, Cooper, Willis, Lowell, Poe and Morris — 
all made their debut in the old Philadelphia peri- 
odicals. In this literary atmosphere were brought 
forth the pioneer of American novelists, — Charles 
Brockden Brown, — the first American theater, the first 
medical school, the first law school and the first 
circulating library. 

Science and art were likewise greatly encouraged. 
Franklin's discoveries had become known 

. . Science and Art 

in the remotest parts of the civilized world. 
He induced Provost Smith and Tom Paine to come 
to Pennsylvania, and the great chemist, Dr. Priestly, 
found refuge here from his persecutors in England. 
David Rittenhouse, under Pennsylvania skies, became 
the greatest astronomer of his time ; while the birds 
in Bartram's famous botanical garden on the Schuyl- 
kill made Alexander Wilson the celebrated ornitholo- 
gist. Audubon, too, acquired much of his bird -lore 
in Pennsylvania, greatly to the neglect of his farm ; 
and it was in Philadelphia that he resolved on the 
publication of his great work — "Birds of America." 
Of the museums then in the country, Peale's was 



254 



A History of Pennsylvania 



the greatest. No stranger failed to see his natural 
wonders and works of art in the State House. The 
famous paintings of more than a hundred statesmen 
and soldiers hanging in one room, and painted by 
Peale and his son Rembrandt, became the nucleus of 
the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ^.rts, in 1806. 
The man to honor our State most in the fine arts was 
Benjamin West, though in later years a Hovender and 
a Rothermel added new glory to our achievements in 
that field. 

As long as the people of Pennsylvania were en- 
gaged chiefly in agriculture and commerce, all the 
roads led to Philadelphia. These at first were mere 
" horse -waj^s," in which the pack-horse, followed by 
calves and sheep, carried the products of the farm 
in wallets, sacks and baskets. The things purchased 

in town were carried 
back in the same 
way, only the load 
was much lighter ; 
for the people needed 
their money to pay 
for their land. Later 
on, the pack-horses 
carried great quanti- 
ties of merchandise 

Birthplace of Benjamin West, Swarthmore, intO the interior tO 
Delaware County. Carlisle, ShippCUS- 

burg, Mercersburg, and even into the Monongahela 
valley. The iron made in the Juniata valley was at 
first carried to Philadelphia and Pittsburg in this 
way. Fifty or a hundred were frequently in one row, 
divided into sections of twelve or fifteen, with a naan 




The Industrial History 255 

at the end of each section. The first departure from 
this mode of transportation was the sled in winter ; 
and wagons came into use as roads were made. The 
Conestoga wagon was first used about 1760. These 
huge vehicles, drawn by six, eight or more horses, 




Conestoga Team. 

often had a capacity of four tons. Their covers were 
of linen, high at each end, and their wheels were 
broad, to keep them from sinking into the mire of 
the country roads. 

The first turnpike in the United States was that 
between Philadelphia and Lancaster. The The 

road between these two places was the Lancaster Pike 
beginning of the chief highway to the West. It went 
through Chester and Lancaster counties, crossed the 
Susquehanna at Wright's Ferry, passed through York, 
Carlisle, Shippensburg and Bedford, thence across the 
AUeghenies to Pittsburg — the metropolis of the West 
after the Revolution. On this historic road thousands 
of emigrants traveled in the summer months to 
Pittsburg, where they fitted out for their new homes ; 
while long trains of wagons brought the produce of 
their farms to Philadelphia. The way was broad and 
level in the lowlands, but narrow and dangerous in 



256 A History of Pennsylvania 

the mountains, and beset with steep declivities. Many 
inns were found along the route, and the villagers 
living about them did a thriving business ; but — 

" To the merry wayside tavern 

Comes the noisy throng no more ; 
And the faded sign complaining, 
Swings unnoticed at the door." 

— Thomas Buchanan Bead. 

It was this transportation to and from the West 
that gave rise to the project of the Lancaster pike in 
1792. When finished it was the wonder of America. 

The Lancaster pike was the first important piece 
other of work douc in the line of internal 

Improvements improvements, which began to be made 
about 1790. The opening of the Northwest Territory 
for settlement made it necessary to carry out schemes 
that had been the dream of years, and turned the 
attention of capitalists from the sea to the land. All 
over the United States turnpikes, bridges and canals 
were projected. Hamilton's funding system (see any 
U. S. history), the United States Bank, the impost and 
the excise, all worked together for good times. In 
1791 three canals were begun, one along the banks 
of the Brandy wine, another between the Delaware and 
the Schuylkill, and still another between the Schuylkill 
and the Susquehanna. These were the beginnings of 
the great system of canals, connecting the valleys and 
streams, and binding together the different parts of 
the State, to an extent and at a cost unequaled by 
any similar works in America. The Lancaster pike 
was extended until in the year 1806 it reached Pitts- 
burg. Around Philadelphia a perfect network of such 



The Industrial History 



257 



roads came into existence, and their substantial stone 
bridges were an object of admiration to the traveler 
in Pennsylvania. 

Roads, bridges and canals were not the only means 
thought of at this time for the improvement Fitch's 

of the interior. Long before Fulton, in steamboat 
1807, made his trip to Albany in the famous Clermont, 
John Fitch had steamed up and down the Delaware 
between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey. 



J=^ 




Model of Fitch's Steamboat. 

The idea of steam navigation had come to Fitch while 
at the village of Neshaminy, Bucks county, in 1785. 
He made a model and tried it in a stream. He formed 
a company in Philadelphia to furnish the capital 
needed. A German clockmaker of that city, Henry 
Voight, helped him to make the boiler and engine. 
After several trials on the Delaware, in the summer of 
1786, the boat reached the rate of seven miles an 
hour. Then he built a larger one — forty-five feet long; 
and on August 22, 1787, in the presence of the mem- 
bers of -the Constitutional Convention and a vast 
concourse of other spectators, he propelled it up and 
down the Delaware to the great astonishment of the 
multitude. About a year later. Fitch had so improved 
his steamboat that it began to make regular trips 
from Philadelphia to Burlington, going up one day 



258 A Historij of Pennsylvania 

and returniug the next. On Sundays it made return 
trips to Chester. A time-table, with rates of fare, 
appeared in the Philadelphia papers from June to 
September, for several years, but the competition of 
sailing packets and stage-coaches made the enterprise 
unprofitable and the trips were abandoned. 

In 1804, Oliver Evans ran a paddle-wheel steamboat 
steam on the ^l^wu the Schuylkill and up the Delaware 
Ohio and as far as Dunk's Ferry (now Beverly, New 

Mississippi Jersey) and back without accident or delay. 
But it remained for Robert Fulton to make a success 
of steam navigation, and no place in Pennsylvania prof- 
ited more by his invention than Pittsburg. Before 
1811, keel-boats, Kentucky flat-boats and Indian 
pirogues were the means of transportation down the 
Ohio. From St. Louis rude boats and rafts floated 
down the Mississippi to Natchez and New Orleans. 
But the current was too rapid for this kind of craft 
to return ; and so they were rudely put together and 
sold for lumber at their destination. In 1810, to test 
Fulton's plan of navigation on this interior waterway, 
a boat 138 feet long, of some 300 tons burden, was 
built at Pittsburg. It was christened the New Orleans, 
and launched in 1811. The steamboat left for the 
Crescent City in December following. Others were 
constructed, and from that time on, Pittsburg built 
many river steamboats, and its trade with the Ohio 
and Mississippi valleys became immense. 

Railroad building also dates back to the time of 
opening ways of transportation to the inte- 
rior. Oliver Evans, as early as 1773, said he 
could apply his steam engine to propel carriages upon 
the land; and in 3782 he had succeeded in making 



The Industrial History 



259 



one. In 1805, he exhibited a land -carriage in public. 
In 1809, Thomas Leiper constructed a wooden railroad 
track from a stone quarry in Delaware county to a 
boat landing at Ridley, a distance of nearly a mile. 
This was the first railroad in America. The track 
consisted of oak rails laid on blocks eight feet apart, 
and a single horse drew the four wheeled carriage 




Jolin Bull Engine, 1831. Camden and Amboy Railroad. 

having a weight of more than 10,000 pounds. The 
road was in operation for many years. 

The next railway in Pennsylvania, built in 1827, 
and also operated by horse -power, was that leading 
from the coal mines at Mauch Chunk to the Lehigh 
river, a distance of 9 miles — 6 miles longer than the 
one at Quincy, Mass., constructed the year before. 
Thus one experiment gave rise to another, and in 
1829, the Delaware and Hudson Company tried the 
locomotive from their mines to Honesdale, the first 
actual and practical use of steam on an American 
railroad. The first railroad in Pennsylvania for pas- 
senger and freight traffic was the Germantown road. 
The first passenger train left Ninth and Green streets, 
Philadelphia, June 6, 1832, and was drawn by horses. 
On the 23d of November following, a locomotive 



260 



A History of Pennsylvania 



engine, "Old Ironsides," was put on the track, at a 
speed of 28 miles an hour. 

The first railroad to the interior of the State was 
The Columbia the Columbia Railroad, from Philadelphia 
Railroad ^q Columbia. The State undertook this 

work in connection with the building of the canals. 
In April, 1834, an excursion by members of the 
Legislature, Canal 
Commissioners, and 
others, left Harris- 
biirg, being towed to 
Columbia, by a canal 
packet, and thence 
carried by rail to 
Lancaster, where they 
remained all night. 
The next morning 
they started for Phila- 
delphia, the cars being 
drawn by horses, and 
reached the city in 
eight and a half 
hours, including stop- 
pages. Before winter 
the road was in full 
operation. The cars 
were owned and run by the proprietors of the old 
stage lines. Anj-body could use the road _by paying 
two cents a mile for each passenger, and $4.92 for 
each car sent over it. It had a single track at 
first, with turn-outs here and there, and there were 
frequent fights for the right of way. In the sum- 
mer of 1835, cars and boats ran from Philadelphia 




A Modern (Jompartment Car. 



The Industrial History 



261 



through to Pittsburg, partly by canal and portage 
railroad, in three and one -half days ; but by that 
time the canal commissioners had procured locomo- 
tives and a new rail- 
road from Lancaster 
to Harrisburg, via 
Mount Joy, had been 
built. The head of 
the canal navigation 
east of the Alleghenies 
was Hollidaysburg. 
Here the Portage Rail- 
road, crossing the 
mountains by five in- 
clined planes on each 
side, the cars drawn 
by stationary engines, 
connected with Johns- 
town. From the lat- 
ter place the canal 
along the Conemaugh 
completed the route 
to Pittsburg. In 1834, 
an emigrant's boat 
from the North Branch 




Old Portage Road. 



of the Susquehanna passed over the inclined planes 
on trucks while the family was in it. It was launched 
again at Johnstown, reached Pittsburg, was run into 
the Ohio, floated down to Cairo, and was towed up 
the Mississippi to St. Louis. The route of transporta- 
tion between Philadelphia and Pittsburg, with some 
deviations, has since become the main line of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad. With its numerous branches 



262 



A History of Pennsylvania 



in the State, and its lines outside, it connects New 
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington with 
Pittsburg, Erie, Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Cincin- 




The Horseshoe Ciu've. 



nati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago, as well as 
New England and the South. 

Though these internal improvements were begun 
The Use to dcvclop thc agricultural resources of 
of Coal Pennsylvania and to put the State in 

commercial relations with the West, their vast ex- 
tension and final completion had other causes. 

The Conestoga wagons might have transported the 
farmer's produce to market for many j^ears more, had 
not Philip Ginter, the hunter, in 1791, discovered 
" stone coals," under the roots of a fallen tree, nine 
miles west of Mauch Chunk. Anthracite coal had 
been used in the Wj-oming valley in 1768 ; and dur- 
ing the Revolutionary war it was shipped down the 
Susquehanna for the use of the arsenal at Carlisle. 
On a map of Pennsylvania, published in 1770, coal is 
marked as occurring near the present town of Potts- 
ville. Pittsburg, too, had used fuel dug from a high 
blutf before the town, and even then was entitled to 



The Industrial History 263 

be called the " Smokj^ City." Ginter had his speci- 
men examined in Philadelphia, and the Lehigh Coal 
Mine Company was formed there. Ten thousand 
acres of land at Summit Hill were purchased and a 
half dozen arks, loaded with coal, were started down 
the Lehigh to Philadelphia. But wood was plenty, 
and the use of "stone coals" was not understood. 
Although handbills were printed in English and Ger- 
man explaining the method of burning it, yet the 
new fuel found no paying market, and it was used to 
pave the sidewalks. The same disappointments were 
experienced by shippers of anthracite coal from the 
Schuylkill region. One man was actually threatened 
with arrest as a swindler and an impostor, because 
his " rocks," after " poking and raking and stirring 
and blowing" them for half a day, would not burn. 

It was not until after the second war with Great 
Britain, during which the embargo, the non- intercourse 
act and the blockade started manufacturing in the 
United States, that coal came into extensive use. 
Then canal and railroad building received a fresh 
impetus. First, the Lehigh and Schuylkill canals were 
made to tap the anthracite fields, the one completing 
communication with Philadelphia in 1820 and the 
other in 1825. Then, in 1833, the Philadelphia and 
Reading railroad company was chartered. It was the 
first of the coal roads, and by its enormous traffic it 
has become a great system, controlling about a thou- 
sand miles of line in a comparatively small portion 
of the State. The cities and towns which it reaches 
have had a wonderful growth in manufactures of all 
kinds. The coal fields of the Wyoming valley devel- 
oped the two cities, Wilkes -Barre and Scranton, and a 



264 



A History of Pennsylvania 



score or more of smaller towns equally thriving, whose 
chief outlets east and west are the Lehigh Valley and 
the Lackawanna railroads. 

Practically all the anthracite coal produced in this 
country comes from the hills and valleys of the Blue 
mountains, from the head waters of the Schuylkill 
and the Lehigh rivers, northward and westward to 
the Susquehanna — an area of a little less than 500 
square miles. The counties included in the field are 




■■."•^^Sf^ii^^^^ 



Nanticoke Coal Breaker. 



chiefly Schuylkill, Carbon, Luzerne, Lackawanna and 
Northumberland ; and the number of persons employed 
in 1895 was 143,610. The bituminous field includes 
the whole section of the State in and west of the 
Allegheny mountains. The great center of all the in- 
dustries that owe their existence to bituminous coal 
is Pittsburg. The number of employees in mining this 
kind of coal, in 1895, was 84,904. 

These vast deposits of coal enabled Pennsylvania 
to become a great manufacturing State — 

Manufacturing 

first, m the number of establishments and 
the amount of capital invested, and second, in the 
value of manufactured products. In 1890, the number 



The Industrial History 265 

of persons employed was 620,562, and the value of 
the manufactures $1,331,794,901. Manufacturing in 
the United States had its beginning on an enlarged 
scale in the adoption of the Federal Constitution. It 
put an end to the conflicting and restricting legislation 
of the States; and it gave the Federal government the 
power to protect home against foreign manufactures 
whenever necessary. During the Revolution many 
things were made here that used to be imported from 
the mother country; but from the force of habit, 
the people secured them again from the same source 
after the war, and opposed home manufactures to 
such an extent that^ the impost proposed by Congress 
in 1786 was violently assailed. The love of agri- 
culture and commerce was deeply rooted. It was 
argued that the way to make money was to sow the 
fields with grain, harvest it when ripe, send a fleet of 
ships to the marts of the world, and have them come 
back laden with gold. The more poetic ones con- 
trasted the low of cattle and the bleat of lambs with 
the din of mills and factories. 

But such alluring pictures did not determine the 
policy of Pennsylvania. A few clear heads saw things 
otherwise, chief among whom was Tench Coxe, of 
Philadelphia. When cotton was still growing in 
gardens among rose bushes and honeysuckle vines, 
he saw that it would some day be king in America. 
No sooner had the Revolution ended than Coxe tried 
to import a model of Awkwright's famous spinning 
jennies ; but the British government seized it on the 
eve of shipment, and Massachusetts set up the first 
stock-card and spinning-jenny. Nevertheless, through 
his efforts, Philadelphia and the State at large became 



266 A History of Pennsylvania 

deeply interested in the manufacture of cotton and 
other goods. In 1789, hosiery, hats, gloves, coarse 
linens and woolens, cotton goods and many other 
articles were made in the State. Premiums were 
offered by the "Pennsylvania Society for the Encourage- 
ment of Manufactures" for the best specimens of 
these articles. In the same year, the Assembly passed 
"An act to assist cotton manufactures of this State," 
and offered bounties for the introduction of the 
Awkwright patents. It is said that Samuel Slater, 
the father of American cotton manufactures, was 
induced by these bounties to emigrate to America. 
General Washington used to point with pride to the 
Philadelphia fabrics worn by his wife. The worsted 
hosiery made in Germantown, Bethlehem, Lancaster 
and Reading undersold those of the same fineness 
made in England. Two hundred and fifty stocking- 
looms, each averaging about two pair a day, were in the 
State before 1790. One -fourth of the men in Phila- 
delphia had already become manufacturers of one kind 
or another. Early in the nineteenth century, travelers 
were astonished at the great number of factories in 
the State. But it was, not until about 1840, when the 
coal industry and the iron industry joined hands, that 
Pennsylvania entered fuUj' upon its great manufac- 
turing career. 

The earliest irjon produced from native ore was 
made at Coventrv Forge, Chester county. 

Iron Furnaces . " . 

in 1720. Folio wnig this, furnaces and 
forges were operated at various points in the south- 
eastern part of the State, — Manatawny and Green 
Lane, in Montgomory county ; Warwick, in Chester ; 
Glasgow, in Berks ; Cornwall and Colebrook, in 



The Industrial History 267 

Lebanon; and Elizabeth, in Lancaster, where Baron 
Steigel made some of the first stoves cast in this 
country. In 1786, there were within forty miles of 
Lancaster, seventeen furnaces, forges, rolling and 
slitting mills, and two boring and grinding mills for 
the manufacture of gun barrels. The old forge at 
the junction of Valley creek and the Schuylkill gave 
us one of the most memorable names in American 
history — Valley Forge. In York and Cumberland 
counties, too, furnaces and forges were established 
before the Revolution. William Denning made wrought 
iron cannon for the Continental army, and a monu- 
ment was recently erected by the State at his grave 
in Newville. After the Revolution the iron industry 
spread through the Juniata valley, where scores of 
towns and villages by their names testify to the pres- 
ence of forges and furnaces in the earlier days. The 
first furnace west of the Alleghenies was built about 
1790, on Jacob's creek, fifteen miles from its junction 
with the Youghiogheny, where cannon balls were made 
for the defense of Pittsburg against the Indians. 

Before 1840, iron was made only in charcoal fur- 
naces. As other States had an abundance 

Coal Furnaces 

of ore too, Pennsylvania might not have 
become the first in the manufacture of iron products, 
had it not been discovered that anthracite coal could 
be used as a smelting fuel. It marked an era in the 
history of iron manufacture when hard coal was sue ' 
cessfully used at Mauch Chunk and Pottsville, in the 
reduction of iron ore. About the same time, a coke 
and "raw coal" furnace was erected in Armstrong 
county, and the manufacture of bituminous iron com- 
menced. Coal furnaces were now rapidly built in 



268 A History of Pennsylvania 

every section of the State accessible to the coal fields. 
Mills for the manufacture of all kinds of iron products 
•were established in great numbers. Towns and cities 
sprang up ; railroads and canals were built to connect 
them ; and the farmers' found a new market for their 
products among the coar miners and iron workers. 

No place in Pennsylvania benefited more from the 
Pittsburg and Irou iudustry than Pittsburg and the cities 
its Neighbors g^^^ towus iu its vlciuity. From the extent 
of its iron works, it came to be known as the "Iron 
City," and from the heavy clouds of bituminous smoke 
overhanging it, the name of "Smoky City" was also 
given to it. By reason of its position as chief gate- 
way to the West and of its coal, iron, oil and natural 
gas, it is the chief center for the manufacture of iron 
and steel in the United States. The city is equally 
great in other things which its bountiful fuel enables 
it to make. About half the glass factories in the 
United States are located there — an industry which 
the town began in 1797. When the use of natural gas 
as fuel became common, Allegheny county acquired an 
additional facility for manufacturing, and in recent 
years it has become an empire in itself, including 
besides Pittsburg and Allegheny, McKeesport, Mifflin 
Township, Braddock, Homestead, and other populous 
towns and townships. 

Natural gas had been known to exist in and around 
Pittsburg for many years, but was not utilized, except 
on a small scale, before 1884, when George Westing- 
house became interested in it, and drilled a well on 
the grounds of his own residence. In two years' 
time, pipe-lines radiated from Pittsburg like the spokes 
of a wheel, and gas was brought there from a distance 



The Industrial History 



269 



of more than a hundred miles. The daily consumption 
has been as high as 120,000,000 cubic feet. 

There are many other cities and towns that owe 
their growth chiefly to the manufacture of iron and 
its products, among which are Johnstown, New Castle, 
Steelton, Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Phoenixville, 
Danville, Kensington (a part of Philadelphia) and 
Chester. The last two named are noted for the 
building of iron steamships, the yards being known 
respectively as Cramp ^s and Roach's. The construc- 
tion of iron steamships has been brought to such 




Cramp's Ship Yard— Launching of the Yorktown and the Vesuvius. 



perfection on the Delaware that it is sometimes called 
"the Clyde of America." After our war with Spain, 
all the world wanted to know how war vessels were 
built at Kensington. Russia ordered several ships at 
Cramp's at once, recalling to our memory the offer 
she made to Samuel Humphreys after the War of 
1812. 

The lumber industry became extensive with the 
building of railroads, towns and cities, and The Lumber 
the manufacture of machinery incident to industry 

the establishment of the coal and iron industries. 
Philadelphia, Pittsburg and Erie had been building 



270 A History of Pennsylvania 

ships and using lumber as an article of commerce 
before. Ship carpenters were among the very first 
mechanics in the Province. The Swedes had been 
building vessels before Penn came, and in 1683 a ship 
yard was established in Philadelphia. Other yards 
and docks were opened there, and the city became 
famous for ship building. It was a common practice 
to sell both ship and cargo in foreign ports. During 
the Revolution, a Continental and a State fleet were 
built on the Delaware, and when Congress established 
the Navy Department, in 1798, the first navy yard was 
located there. The extensive construction of wooden 
craft was discontinued about 1860. Erie has been a 
great lumber market ever since Perry's gallant fleet 
was constructed from trees in the surrounding forest ; 
while Pittsburg built many steamboats for the southern 
and western rivers, and appropriated the products of 
the forest in other ways. 

The lumber industry of later years centered in the 
city of Williamsport. After 1840, it made such rapid 
progress, that a great boom was erected in the river at 
that place, for the purpose of holding the logs floated 
down from the pineries above until they could be taken 
out and sawed. Before 1850, the logs used to be 
caught by men in small boats and tied into rafts. The 
boom proved so successful that it was enlarged from 
time to time, until it extended a long distance up the 
river. In the spring it is packed so solidly with logs 
that one can walk across the river on them. The large 
piers, the heavy timbers bolted together, and the con- 
struction of the dam, is an immense piece of work. 
The number of mills in Williamsport engaged in manu- 
facturing lumber, and dressing it in various ways, has 



The Industrial History 271 

made the town one of the most flourishing in the State. 
Lock Haven is the next largest emporium in the lum- 
ber district. The West Branch boom was erected 
there about the same time as that at Williamsport, 
and the sawmills are extensive. The forests from 




The Boom at Williamsport. 

which this great lumber industry was developed are 
mostly white pine and hemlock, and are located along 
the West Branch of the Susquehanna and its tribu- 
taries. 

The last great industry of Pennsylvania is that 
of petroleum. Only about forty years have p^^^^j^^^ 
passed since the first still was charged with 
petroleum, and the first barrel of refined oil was offered 
for sale ; yet its exports rank fourth in value, being 
surpassed only by cotton, breadstuff s and provisions ; 
while every home in our own land enjoys its beneficent 
light. It is estimated that the total capital employed 
for the production, manufacture and transportation of 
petroleum and its products amounts to $300,000,000. 
There is evidence that this oil was used in the gray 
dawn of history— in Nineveh, Babylon and Egypt. 
Certain it is, that in America the Indians collected 
their " Seneca oil " from petroleum springs ; and in- 
dications are not wanting to show that the Mound 
Builders had dug wells in Pennsylvania and Ohio. 



272 



A History of Pennsylvania 



Drake's Oil Well 



The French, in the^ir explorations, made note of "a 
fountain at the head of a branch of the Ohio, the 
water of which is like oil." English and American 
soldiers on duty in western Pennsylvania halted at 
"oil creek," and bathed their rheumatic joints with 
the oil that floated on it. Later on, while boring for 
brine to make salt, oil appeared, greatly to the annoy- 
ance of salt operators. 

The history of the industry dates from the year 
1858, when, on the 28th of August, E. 
L. Drake "struck oil" on Watson's Flats, 
near Titusville. He was the first man to drive a pipe- 
through the sand 
and clay. After 
putting down a tube 
to the depth of 36 
feet he struck rock. 
Then he commenced 
to drill. When, on 
Saturday night, Au- 
gust 27, the bore 
had penetrated the 
rock 33 feet, the 
drill dropped into 
a crevice about 6 
inches. The tools 
were pulled out and 
put aside, to resume work on Monday. "Uncle Billy" 
Smith, who did the boring, went to the well on Sun- 
day, and found a liquid within a few feet from the 
top. He dipped some of it up, and lo! it was oil. 
The pump was started on Monday, and the well pro- 
duced at the rate of 25 barrels a day. 




Colonel Drake's Oil Well. 



The Industrial History 



273 



other Wells 



Oil had been collected near Titusville, on an island 
at the junction of Oil and Line creeks, 
for nearly ten j^ears before Drake . bored 
his well. It was done by means of a series of pits, 
arranged like separa- 
tors, the water flowing 
below, leaving the oil 
floating^ on the surface, 
to be dipped up with 
blankets. Specimens of 
this oil had been exam- 
ined and its use for 
illuminating purposes 
demonstrated. As the 
whale oil industry was 
then on the decline, 
and the burning fluid 
made of English and 
Nova Scotia coal was not satisfactory, there was a 
demand for a new illuminant. The success of Drake's 
well, therefore, soon brought forth others in great 
numbers, along Oil and French creeks and the Alle- 
gheny river. 

The next discovery was the flowing well. These 
gushers or petroleum fountains greatly increased the 
quantity produced. In 1862 the drillers, becoming 
crowded in the river bottoms, pushed back into the 
adjacent country, and discovered that the high lands 
of Clarion, Butler, Armstrong, McKean and Warren 
counties also covered the hidden treasure. The pro- 
duction in Washington and Greene counties did not 
become important until 1885. According to the cen- 
sus of 1890, there were 31,768 producing wells in the 




Oil Derricks. 



274 ^ A History of Pennsylvania 

State. Adding to this number those not then in 
operation, there were probably as many oil derricks 
in Pennsylvania as there are square miles. 

The transportation of oil was at first in barrels, 
Transportation hauled on trucks to Oil City, or on barges, 

of Oil which were carried down the shallow 
stream by means of artificial floods produced by open- 
ing a series of dams. At Oil City the barrels were 
transferred to larger boats and shipped to Pittsburg, 
the great distributing center. In 1866, the Allegheny 
Valley railroad was opened, and cars built specially 
for transporting oil. In time, the pipe line displaced 
the car and boat. This method was first used at 
Pithole, for a distance of four miles, over an ascent 
of 500 feet. The owners and drivers of oil wagons 
threatened vengeance upon the proprietor of the little 
pipe line, and it had to be guarded by an armed 
patrol. Today the oil region is a network of pipes, 
and great trunk lines supply the needs of New York, 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburg 
and Chicago. The total length of pipe line trans- 
porting Pennsjdvania crude oil, is about 25,000 miles 
— "a girdle for the earth." The trunk line to Phila- 
delphia starts at Colgrove, McKean county, its 6-inch 
pipe extending over a distance of 235 miles. Pe- 
troleum has also added greatly to the manufactures. 
The number and variety of its products are almost 
limitless. 

Another interest of considerable magnitude is that 

of the slate quarries, which are found in the 

northern half of Northampton and Lehigh 

counties and the eastern quarter of Berks county. The 

slate region has an extreme length of 50 miles and a 



The Industrial History 275 

maximum breadth of 13 miles. Some slate is also 
found in Chester and York counties. The first quarry 
was opened in upper Mount Bethel township, North- 
ampton county, about the year 1812. Since then the 
industry has added much to Pennsylvania's wealth, as 
the annual shipments of such towns as Slatington, 
Pen Argyl and Bangor will show. The Slatington 
region alone in 1882 produced as high as 110,000 
squares of roofing slate (4 or 5 squares to a ton), 
30,000 cases of school slate (10 dozen to a case) and 
100 blackboard cases. The use of slate for black- 
board purposes has since then greatly increased. 

For many years the nickel mines in Bart township, 
Lancaster county, known as the Gap 

. ' ... Nickel and Zinc 

Mines, were an important mining interest. 
They had been worked at intervals from the year 
1718 for their copper. In 1852, it was discovered 
that large quantities of nickel had been mined with 
the copper and thrown away as refuse. The Gap 
Copper Mines at once became the Gap Nickel Mines, 
and smelting works were put up near by. There were 
mined and smelted 'more than 600 tons of ore in a 
month when the production was at its highest ; but 
the industry has been abandoned for some time. 

Another ore of much value is the zinc ore of 
Lehigh county. The mine is situated at Friedensville, 
and consists of very large and extended excavations. 
It has been worked to a depth of 250 feet, though in 
late years it has been idle. Then, there are the 
brown -stone quarries near Hummelstown, Dauphin 
county, and the blue-stone quarries of northeastern 
Pennsylvania, both of which are widely known in the 
eastern part of the United States. 



276 A History of Pennsylvania 

Although mining and manufacturing are the lead- 
ing interests in Pennsylvania, its agricul- 

Agriculture ' i . i -nr i 

ture must necessarily rank high. We have 
some of the -finest farming land in the world, and our 
thriving and populous towns and cities afford a mar- 
ket for all that the farmers can produce, and a great 
deal more. In the production of corn and wheat, the 
State surpasses all the other Atlantic States ; and its 
dairy and truck farms surround a hundred centers of 
population large enough to consume the products. 
The small farms of Pennsjdvania are more profitable 
than the large ones, here or elsewhere, in proportion 
to the capital invested. Of the six counties in the 
United States whose agricultural products were the 
most valuable in 1889, Lancaster ranked first and 
Chester and Bucks third and fourth respectively; while 
the Young farms, in Dauphin county, are pronounced 
the finest in the world. 

BOOKS FOR READING AND CONSULTATION 

Scharf and Westeott's History of Pkiladelphia, Vol. Ill, Chs. 
liii-lvi ; Wilson's History of Pennsylvania Railroad Company ; 
Fisher's Pennsylvania Colony a7id Commomvealth, Ch. viii ; Trego's 
Geography of Pennsylvania, pp. 116-164 ; Bowen's Pictorial Sketch 
Book of Pennsylvania ; Petroleum, Its Production and Products in 
Pennsylvania, in the Report of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics, 
1897; Bulletin of the Department of Labor, No. 13, November, 1897; 
Sypher's School History of Pennsylvania, Ch. xxxv; Governors'' 
Messages, in the House and Senate Journals, 1790-1898 ; Swank's 
Iron and Coal in Pennsylvania; McMaster's History of the People 
of the United States, Vol. I, See Index for "Manufactures," Vol. 
II, See Index for "Internal Improvements." 



CHAPTER VII 
EDUCATION IN PENNSYLVANIA 

At the time when the Dutch and the Swedes settled 
on the Delaware, the schools of Europe Among the 
were usually under the control of the Dutch and 
church. The minister himself was the *^^ swedes 
schoolmaster, or the schoolmaster was the minister's 
assistant. Evert Pieterson, who taught the first school 
on the west bank of the Delaware, in a church at 
New Castle, 1657, was to act as "Sexton, Psalm -Setter, 
Comforter of the Sick, and Schoolmaster." The peo- 
ple were "poor and scattered," and the few churches 
and preachers among them had to do double duty. 
In many cases the parents taught their children under 
the oversight of the clergyman. A-B-C books, prim- 
ers, and catechisms were sent from Sweden in large 
numbers. 

But the schools of the Dutch and the Swedes 
are merely an historical curiosity. The Foundations 
foundations of education in Pennsylvania ^^^^ 
were laid by William Penn and the Assembly at its 
first and second sessions. The twelfth provision of 
the Frame of Government says : 

That the Governor and Provincial Council shall erect and 
order all public schools, and encourage and reward the authors 
of useful sciences and laudable inventions. 

Penn held that the government is a trustee for 

(277) 



278 A History of Pennsijlvania 

the youth, and must look after their education. In this 
way it would endear itself to the people ; for they 
would remember the government more for their edu- 
cation than for their estates. The practical or indus- 
trial side of education was especially emphasized by 
the founder of our State. His ideas and plans are 
expressed in the following act of the Assembly which 
met at Philadelphia in 1683 : 

And to the end that poor, as well as rich, may be instructed 
in good and commendable learning, which is to be preferred 
before wealth. Be it enacted, etc., That all persons in this 
Province and Territories thereof, having children, and all the 
guardians and trustees of orphans, shall cause such to be in- 
structed in reading and writing, so that they may be able to 
read the Scriptures and to write by the time they attain to 
twelve years of age ; and that then they be taught some useful 
trade or skill, that the poor may work to live, and the rich if 
they become poor may not want ; of which every County Court 
shall take care. And in case such parents, guardians or over- 
seers shall be found deficient in this respect,, they shall pay for 
every such child five pounds. * * * 

This act of 1683 took advanced ground. It pro- 
schoois vided for " state education," "universal edu- 

Estabiished catiou," " iudustHal education," and "com- 
pulsory education." Acting upon its provisions, Penn 
and the Provincial Council that same year engaged 
Enoch Flower, from England, to open a school in a 
house built of pine and cedar planks. In 1689, the 
Friends' Public Grammar School, which afterwards 
became the William Penn Charter School, was opened 
in Philadelphia. The master had to be licensed by 
the Governor and Council. It was not a public school 
in the American sense now, but resembled the so- 
called "public schools" of England. It was endowed 



Education in Pennsylvania 279 

and free only to the poor, who were educated in branch 
schools located in various parts of the town. 

This was all that was done by the State for the 
education of its people, down to the Revo- The church 
lutionary War. The Charter of Privileges schools 

(see p. 104) contained no clause even relating to edu- 
cation. As stated before, church and school dwelt 
under the same roof in those days ; but as there 
were so many churches in Pennsylvania, it was im- 
possible to have, a state school. The various sects 
and churches had schools of their own. The earliest 
school started by private effort was one on Tinicum 
island. Darby, too, became the seat of a school, in 
1692. One was established at Germantown in 1701, 
with the learned Pastorius at its head. No sooner 
had Christ Church been founded than a school house 
sprang up by its side. Schools are known to have 
been taught by the Baptist preachers in their early 
churches in Bucks and Chester counties. The Scotch- 
Irish regarded the church and the school house as 
twin agents of civilization, and their clearings were 
never without them. The Catholics, with whom it is 
the policy even now to entrust education to the 
church, are known to have had a school in the 
priest's house at Goshenhoppen, Berks county, soon 
after their German mission was established there. 
The Lutherans at New Hanover, Montgomery county, 
received a gift of fifty acres of land for their church 
and school. One of the fathers of the Reformed 
Church in Pennsylvania preached and taught in his 
own house in Montgomery county for some years soon 
after 1720. 

No church or sect was more active in education 



280 



A History of Pennsylvania 




Dock's Table and Bench. 



than the Moravians. At Nazareth, Bethlehem and Lititz 
they had nurseries, where the children above one or 
two years of age were fed, clothed, instructed and 
cared for at the expense of the brethren. Later paro- 
chial schools, with infant departments attached, dis- 
placed the nurseries. The Mennonites at German town 
built a log church in 1706, which was afterwards 

used as their school 
house. In the present 
building, 130 j^ears old, 
stands the table at which 
" the pious schoolmaster 
of the Skippack" — Chris- 
topher Dock — sat when 
he taught school in that 
town. He is the author of 
the first book on school 
teaching published in America. He died one evening 
after school while kneeling at his desk to pray — as 
was his custom. The Schwenckf elders and Tunkers, 
worshiping for many years in houses and barns, in- 
structed their children at home. Among the Seventh 
Day Baptists at Ephrata, a hive of intellectual activity, 
the first Sabbath school in America was opened. 

Where people lived five or ten miles from a church, 
Neighborhood or whcrc Si Variety of religious denomina- 
schoois tions existed, schools were organized by 

neighborhoods. These were known as "pay" or 
"subscription" schools. The building of a house and 
the employment of a teacher was usually entrusted to 
a committee elected by the neighborhood. The money 
needed was raised by voluntary subscription. The 
pay schools soon outnumbered those sustained by re- 



Education in Pennsylvania 281 

ligious bodies, owing to tlie intermixing of the sects 
and churches as the population grew. It was said of 
the country around Philadelphia that by 1750 a school- 
house stood ''in almost every ridge of woods." When 
the people crossed the mountains and came in contact 
with settlers from Maryland, Virginia, New York and 
New England, there was such an intermingling socially, 
that neighborhood schools had few prejudices to en- 
counter. Many ministers were teachers, but the 
churches were not organically connected with primary 
education in central, western, and northern Pennsyl- 
vania. In the Wyoming valley, 960 acres of land were 
set apart in each township "for the public use of a 
Gospel Ministry and schools." Some of the schools 
in that section were altogether free before the Revo- 
lution. They were supported by the public fund and 
a tax on property. 

When the Revolution made necessary the formation 
of a new constitution in Pennsylvania, The constitutions 
this is what was said in it about edu- °* ^^'^ ^"<* ^^^^ 
cation : 

A school or schools shall be established in each county by 
the Legislature for the convenient instruction of youth, with such 
salaries to the masters, paid by the public, as may enable them 
to instruct youth at low prices ; and all useful learning shall be 
duly encouraged and promoted in one or two Universities. 

The State, in 1776, took no ground in advance of 
the church and community schools, when it proposed 
to furnish elementary ' instruction "at low prices." 
Both classes of schools had always striven to reach 
people of moderate circumstances. In 1790, however, 
Timothy Pickering, of Luzerne, supported by Thomas 
McKean, of Philadelphia, William Findley, of West- 



282 



A History of Pennsylvania 




Alexander Wilson's School House, 1804. 



moreland, and others, succeeded in getting the words — 
"w such a manner that the poor may he taught gratis" — 
attached to the constitutional clause on schools. On 

these words rests the 
system of common 
schools ; for, in order 
to teach the poor gratis, 
it was finally determined 
to teach the rich gratis, 
too. 

The idea of teaching 
Charity thc poor at pub- 
schoois i[q expense was 
stimulated in its slow 
growth by several 
educational movements. 
The charity schools of 
Philadelphia helped to develop it. A charity school 
to qualify "a number of the poorer sort as school- 
masters in the country," was at- first connected with 
what is now the Universitj^ of Pennsylvania. The 
attempt to teach the Germans the English language 
(see p. 49) was a step towards lending a helping hand 
in education. It was the first educational movement 
to become general in the province. The schools of 
the Quakers, but more especially of the Moravians, for 
the education of the Indians, — an object set forth in 
Peun's charter for the founding of Pennsylvania, — 
were noble examples of free education for the poor. 
Then, there were the schools for colored people, in 
Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburg, and elsewhere. 
They were open day and evening, for j-oung and old, 
and were taught by volunteers, who served by turns. 



Education in Pennsylvania 283 

The movement that led up nearest to the present 
free schools was the Lancasterian system — The Lancas- 
a scheme by which the poor could be taught *^"*" system 
gratis at a very low expense. After 1790, repeated 
efforts were made to carry out the constitutional pro- 
vision in relation to the education of the poor. But 
the laws passed resulted in dividing the people into 
two classes — the rich and the poor. The children who 
were taught gratis became known as "pauper scholars," 
and were ashamed to go to the "pauper schools," while 
the "pay scholars," were too proud to go. The Lan- 
casterian system, named after Joseph Lancaster, an 
Englishman, and devised by him in London, at the 
close of the eighteenth century, employed the older pupils 
as monitors to instruct the others. Lancaster prepared 
his pupil assistants for their daily work somewhat after 
the method employed by a Sunday school superintendent 
at his teachers' meetings. The system was tried in Phila- 
delphia with such satisfactory results that the Legis- 
lature passed a law in 1818, establishing public schools 
in that city, in which it was to be used in its "most 
approved state." Lancaster himself came to Philadel- 
phia to carry the law into effect. Four years later, 
Lancaster was formed into a second school district 
like that of Philadelphia, in which public schools of 
the Lancasterian kind were supported by public taxes. 
Dauphin county, in 1827, was authorized to have the 
same kind of schools; and a number of other places 
in the State introduced them. 

The Lancasterian system was followed by marked 
improvements. The pupil -teacher, trained improvements 
under the eye of an experienced master, *^^* followed 
was better than the pedagogue of colonial times, who 




284 A Historij of Pennsylvania 

generally tramped the country when he did not teach. 
With better teachers came better houses — stone, brick 
or frame ; and a more extended course of study than 
_ ^ the three R's, including ge- 

ography and Lindley Mur- 
ray's English grammar. 
But in spite of these im- 
provements, less than 
24,000 children attended 
school at public expense in 
An Old School House. 1825. 1833- Only about 5V of the 

entire population ; whereas, 
now the school enrollment is about i of the popula- 
tion. It was not until the law of 1834 (see p. 202) 
had removed distinctions of birth and wealth that the 
little red school house dotted all the hills and valleys 
of Pennsylvania. 

The free school law of 1834 allowed the people 
of each district to decide at an election 

The Free Schools 

whether to adopt it or not. About half 
of the districts accepted it then, and by 1848 it had 
grown so much in popular favor that it was made 
general. However, if a district was willing to lose 
its State appropriation, it was not compelled to 
maintain free schools ; and it was not until 1874 
that the last district accepted the law. State Su- 
perintendent Wickersham then said, in his annual 
report: "For the first time in our history, the door 
of a public school house stands open to receive every 
child of proper age within the limits of the State." 
The progress of popular education after 1850 
was very rapid. In 1854, greater power to collect 
the school tax was given ; geography and grammar, 



Education in Pennsylvania 285 

together with such higher branches as the directors 
might prescribe, were to be taught in every school ; 
provision for graded schools was made ; and the 
office of county superintendent was established. Three 
years later, the State Superintendency of Common 
Schools was made a separate office ; before that its 
duties were performed by the Secretary of the Com- 
monwealth. At the same time the Normal School law 
was passed, by which the State was divided into 
twelve districts, — later increased to thirteen, — in each 
of which, beginning with 1859, has been established 
a school for the professional preparation of teachers. 

As there are many children and youths in the 
charitable and penal institutions, it was The state's 
felt necessary to have some oversight given interest Grows 
to their instruction and training, especially as the 
State grants financial aid to their support. For this 
purpose the State Board of Public Charities was in- 
stituted in 1869. For the same reasons the Soldiers^ 
Orphan Schools were placed under State supervision. 
Evening schools were authorized by law in 1883, 
when it was ordered that if the parents of twenty or 
more pupils, above the age of six years, made appli- 
cation, a free evening school for a term of not less 
than four months should be established. But the 
crowning acts to make elementary education universal 
were the free text -book law of 1893, and the com- 
pulsory attendance law of 1895. Children between 
the age of eight and thirteen years — and those between 
thirteen and sixteen, unless usefully employed — are 
now required to attend school at least 70 per centum 
of the time during which the schools are open in 
their district. Such attendance is possible, because 



286 A History of Pennsylvania 

all books and supplies are free. The State, by local 
taxation, and by general appropriation ($5,000,000), 
spends about $20,000,000 for the common schools every 
year. 

Higher education by public authority began with 
The state and a rcsolutlou of thc Proviuclal Council, 
Higher Education (3allijjg for "a School of Arts and Sci- 
ences," out of which grew the William Penn Charter 
School (see p. 278). This institution developed into 
a school in which Latin, Greek, and other higher 
branches were taught, and is today one of the 
oldest of its kind in this country. The next step 
was taken by Franklin and others, when, in 
1749, they founded the Academy and Charitable 
School of the Province of Pennsylvania. This 
academy, in 1755, became the College at Phila- 
delphia, and in 1779 the University of Pennsylvania ; 
and with each act of incorporation, the institution 
received a grant of land and money. The other 
colleges and academies now in the State were all 
established after the Revolutionary war. As long 
as there were no free schools, the act of incorporation 
usually carried with it a grant from the State, on 
condition that a certain number of poor students 
should receive instruction free. The colleges and 
academies, during that time, also received an annual 
appropriation on the same condition. In 1838 there 
were nine colleges and one hundred and seven acade- 
mies and female seminaries receiving appropriations. 
A few years later, when the State was hard pressed 
for money on account of its public improvements, 
and when the common schools needed all the financial 
assistance possible, the appropriations were withheld. 



Education in Pennsylvania 287 

As the common schools grew in favor, the necessity 
for the scholastic and professional prepa- 

±^ Normal Schools 

ration of teachers became apparent. For 
this specific and technical purpose Normal Schools were 
instituted. On account of their vital importance to the 
State they receive aid from that source. 

Most of the colleges in this State are denominational. 
The first college in Pennsylvania — the The church and 
famous "Log College"— was of this kind. ^''^^^' Education 
It was established in 1726 by Rev. Wm. Tennent, 
pastor of the Neshaminy Presbyterian church, Bucks 
county. Tennent prepared young men there for the 
ministry and other callings, Out of this school grew 
Princeton College, New Jersey. Like "Log College," 
other schools were taught here and there, in colonial 
times, by learned divines who knew enough Latin to 
make it the language of the schoolroom. But the era 
of colleges proper did not come much before the nine- 
teenth century. It requires wealth to found higher in- 
stitutions of learning. When the churches once had 
means, they soon had colleges. Pennsylvania now 
has five universities and twenty -seven colleges. That 
most of them are denominational is due to the fact 
that so many churches and sects settled the State. 

But the common schools, normal schools and col- 
leges do not include all that the State and its people 
have done for education. We need but mention 
Girard College and the School for the Blind, in 
Philadelphia, the School for Feeble-minded Children 
in Media, Lincoln University at Oxford, the Reforma- 
tory at Huntingdon, the Pennsylvania Reform School 
at Morganza, the School for the Deaf and Dumb in 
Pittsburg — as well as like institutions in other parts 



288 A History of Pennsylvania 

of the State — to appreciate what giant efforts have 
been put forth for the improvement of all classes of 
society. 

Pennsylvania is known as the Keystone State — 
The Keystone possibly on account of the fact that six 

state Qf j^^Q tt original thirteen " are to the north 

and six to the south of her ; but probably because 
she was considered to hold the balance of political 
power between six free States and six slave States, 
after the Union under the Constitution had been 
formed. Whichever reason may be the true one, it 
long since ceased to exist ; and if we would continue 
to occupy the proud position we must do it by our 
rank in the Union. But the rank of a State de- 
pends upon her schools. 

BOOKS FOR READING AND CONSULTATION 

Graydon's Memoirs, ch. i; Scliarf and Wescott's History of 
Philadelpliia, Vol. Ill, ch. xlvii ; Proposals Belating to the Edu- 
cation of Youth in Pennsylvania, 1749; Boone's Education in the 
United States, see Index; Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, Vol. 
I, pp. 286-297, and Vol. Ill, p. 163; Wiekersham's History of 
Education in Pennsylvania; The Common School Laws of Penn- 
sylvania. 



CHAPTER VIII 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

THE GOVEBNOES OF PENNSYLVANIA 

WILLIAM MARKHAM ( under Penn, 1681 - 1682 ; under 
Fletcher, 1693-1695 ; under Penn, 1695-1699 ; and in Delaware 
under Penn, 1691-1693) was a cousin of William Penn, a soldier by- 
profession, and but twenty -one years of age when he arrived as 
Deputy- Governor. He came to Philadelphia by way of New York, 
where he informed the Governor of that colony that his rule of the 
Delaware had passed into William Penn's hands. He died in Phila- 
delphia, 1704, and was buried with military honors by direction of 
Governor Evans. Pennsylvania owes much to William Markham. 
He nursed the colony in its infancy, and the child no doubt caused 
him many a sleepless night. 

WILLIAM PENN (1682-84, 1699-1701) was born in London in 
1644. His father was Admiral William Penn, who had distinguished 
himself in the British navy, and was anxious that his only son should 
be a man of prominence. To this end, he sent William to Oxford. 
While there, the youth became deeply impressed by the preaching 
of the Quaker, Thomas Loe, and was expelled from college for re- 
fusing to comply with certain regulations of dress, which he now 
regarded as wrong. To efface the impressions of Loe's preaching. 
Admiral Penn sent his son to the Continent, where he traveled for 
a time. Upon returning, William studied law, became an attache 
to his father in the naval service, and in 1665 assumed the man- 
agement of a family estate near Cork. He acquired some military 
renown as a soldier, and had a portrait of himself painted in mili- 
tary costume. While in Ireland, Penn once more heard Thomas 
Loe preach, and this time the arrow of conviction went straight to 
his heart. He joined the Friends, adopted their principles, and 
shared their persecutions. At a meeting in Cork, he, with others, 
was arrested and thrown into prison. When released, he began to 
preach and write the Quaker doctrine. The conversion to the 
Quakers of so prominent a person as the son of Admiral Penn was 
the talk of the kingdom. The father tried hard to undo Loe's 
work, and even made his son leave home ; but William refused to 
depart from the Quaker customs, even so much as to take off his 
hat to his father, the King and the Duke of York. During his 
banishment from home, a mother's love provided him secretly with 

S (289) 



290 A History of Pennsylvania 

an allowance. His writings being regarded as heretical, he was 
arrested and thrown into the Tower of London for eight months, 
where he wrote his celebrated work, "No Cross, No Crown." Ad- 
miral Penn now became touched by the heroic conduct of his son, 
and had him liberated. The two were reconciled, and William 
again took charge of the estates in Ireland, but only for a short 
time. Resuming his preaching in England in 1670, he was once 
more thrown into prison. After being released again, he continued 
to write, preach, and travel in the interests of civil and religious 
liberty, and upon his return from Germany and Holland his his- 
tory merged into that of Pennsylvania. 

THOMAS LLOYD (President of Council, 1684-86; one .of five 
Commissioners, 1686-88 ; President of Council, 1690-91 ; Deputy- 
Governor, 1691-93) was entrusted with the keeping of the Great 
Seal when Penn sailed for England in 1684. He had been educated 
at Oxford and had held places of trust in England. Having become 
a Quaker, he resolved to come to Pennsylvania, where he arrived in 
1683, on the same ship with Pastorius. Lloyd's first office was 
that of land commissioner, of whom there were three. When he 
asked to be relieved from his executive duties in 1688, Penn gave 
his consent very reluctantly, yet he afterwards served twice in the 
same capacity. He died in 1694, at the early age of 45. 

JOHN BLACKWELL (1688-90) had been a captain in Crom- 
well's army, and was at the time of his selection in one of the 
New England colonies. "Since no Friend," says Penn, "would 
undertake the Governor's place, I took one that was not, and a 
stranger, that he might be impartial and more reverenced." But 
Penn's hopes were not realized. After a little more than a year of 
turbulent rule, the Military Governor was relieved of his authority; 
and he expressed his thanks that he had escaped from his troubles. 

ANDREW HAMILTON (1701-1703), the first Deputy-Gover- 
nor after Markham's long and repeated rule, was a native of Scot- 
land and a merchant in Edinburgh. On his arrival in America, he 
was made Governor of New Jersey. He planned a system of post 
offices in the colonies, and was made Deputy Postmaster -General 
for all the plantations. He died as Governor of Pennsylvania, 
while on a visit to his family at Amboy, New Jersey, in 1703. 

EDWARD SHIPPEN (President of Council, 1703-04) succeeded 
to executive authority on the death of Hamilton. He was Phila- 
delphia's first mayor. Tradition has it that he was distinguished 
for three things— the biggest man, the biggest house and the biggest 
carriage. He came early into the province from Boston, whither 
he had gone from England, and whence he had fled on account of 
the persecutions meted out to the Quakers. He was tlie grand- 
father of Chief Justice Shippen and an ancestor of Dr. William 
Shippen, the first medical lecturer in Philadelphia, and the second 
in America. 



Biographical Sketches 291 

JOHN EVANS (1704-1709) was of Welsh descent, but born in 
London. When appointed Governor, he was a member of the 
Queen's household. He was too young and inexperienced to make 
a good executive, while his private life gave great offense. William 
Penn the younger had come with him to Philadelphia, and the 
two held high carnival at times in the staid and quiet city of that 
day. 

CHARLES GOOKIN (1709-17) was an Irishman. He was the 
opposite of Evans in age and morals; yet he did not please the 
Assembly. He had been a captain in the English army, and the 
selection of a military Governor under Penn, " the Apostle of 
Peace," was somewhat of an anomaly. He returned to England 
after his term of office. 

SIR WILLIAM KEITH (1717-26) was the son of a Scotch baron, 
and had held office under the British government before he was 
appointed Governor, having been for some time the King's surveyor 
of customs for the southern provinces. In this capacity he had 
visited Philadelphia and become favorably known there. Having 
made himself popular with the people, he was elected to the As- 
sembly upon retiring from the governorship. He went back to Eng- 
land afterwards and died in obscurity. 

PATRICK GORDON (1726-36) was another military man, hav- 
ing served from his youth in the English army. William Penn had 
died in Keith's administration and Gordon was accordingly ap- 
pointed by Springett Penn, the heir-at-law of the proprietary 
family. He died in office in 1736, after ten years of a happy ad- 
ministration. 

JAMES LOGAN ( President of Council, 1736-38 ) came to 
America with Penn on his second visit in 1699, as secretary. He 
was born in Ireland, of Scottish parentage, in' 1674, and at the age 
of thirteen had acquired Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Later he 
became proficient in mathematics and ther modern languages. He 
made investigations in botany and other sciences, wrote books and 
corresponded with the learned men in Europe. His library was 
joined with Franklin's to make the Philadelphia library, the first 
circulating library in the colonies. Penn invested him with many 
important trusts, which were nobly discharged. Although he never 
was Governor in name, in his capacity as secretary of the Province, 
member of the Council, commissioner of property, and Chief 
Justice, he was everything to Penn and the Penn family from the 
day he 'entered their service until he died, in 1751, He was a 
warm friend of the Indians. His classic home at Stenton, near 
Germantown, was nearly always surrounded by Indian delegations, 
who camped there to seek advice and favor from their honored 
friend "hid in the bushes." 

SIR GEORGE THOMAS ( 1738-47 ), the son of a wealthy 
planter, was born at Antigua, in the West Indies. He was a mem- 



292 A History of Pennsylvania 

ber of the government of that island when appointed, and after his 
term of office was Governor of the Leeward and Carribee Islands. 
He afterwards became a baronet, and died in London. 

ANTHONY PALMER (President of Council, 1747-48) was a 
gentleman of wealth, who had come to the Province in 1708, from 
the West Indies. It is said that he lived in great stj^le, keeping a 
coach and a pleasure barge, in which he made his visits from the 
"Governor's House" at Shackamaxon to the city. He died in 
1749. 

JAMES HAMILTON (1748-54, 1759-63, and President of 
Council in 1771) was a native of Philadelphia, possessed of a large 
fortune, and experienced in the affairs of the Province by serving 
as Prothonotary. He was twice appointed Governor, serving ten 
years altogether. He held other offices, and was a very popular 
man until the Revolutionary movement began, when he took sides 
with the Crown. He died in New York in 1783. 

ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS ( 1754-56 ) was bred a lawyer, 
and was Chief Justice of New Jersey for twenty years. His ad- 
ministration in Pennsylvania occurred at a stormy time in the his- 
tory, and neither he nor the Province had many pleasant recollec- 
tions of it. Upon his retirement, he returned to New Jersey, 
where he died in 1764. 

WILLIAM DENNY (1756-59) was born in England. On 
finishing his career as Governor of Pennsylvania, he returned 
thither, where he retired on an annuity from the Crown. He was 
received at Philadelphia with great honors ; but his disagreements 
with the Assembly made his recall necessary. He had to sign bills 
contrary to his instructions in order to get his salary. 

JOHN PENN (1763-71 and 1773-1776), the son of Richard and 
grandson of William Penn, was a native of Philadelphia, born in 
1728. He was twice Governor — from 1763 to 1771, and again from 
1773 to the end of the proprietary government, in 1776. He re- 
mained here during the Revolution, and, having refused to sign a 
parole, was confined in New Jersey and Virginia. He died at his 
home in Bucks county, 1795, and was buried in Christ's graveyard, 
from which his remains were afterwards transferred to England. 

RICHARD PENN (1771-73), brother of John Penn, and, hence, 
also grandson of William Penn, was born in England, 1734. After 
coming here, he became a member of the Provincial Council and a 
naval officer. As Governor, he secured public confidence to such 
an extent that when, in 1775, he sailed for England, the second 
petition of Congress to the King was entrusted to him for pre- 
sentation to the Privy Council. Parliament availed itself of his 
information on American affairs, and he subsequently became a 
member of that body. He died in England in 1811. 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (chairman of Committee of Safety, 



Biographical Sketches 



293 




Franklin's Grave. 



1776-77; and President of Supreme Executive Council, 1785-88) 
was born at Boston, in 1706, but disagreeing with his brother, to 
whom he had been apprenticed as a printer, he came to Philadel- 
phia in 1723. He got work from Andrew Bradford, and in a year 
had saved enough to seek his fortune in London. He soon re- 
turned to Philadelphia, and again worked as a journeyman ; but 
not long, for in 1830 he had 
a printing establishment, 
was editor and proprietor of 
the Pennsylvania Gazette, and 
had married Deborah Reed, 
the girl that laughed at him 
when he walked past her 
house eating dry rolls. Two 
years later, Franklin pub- 
lished "Poor Eichard's Al- 
manac," the first number be- 
ing "for the year of Christ 
1733." He was now a busy 
man, yet he studied French, 
Italian, Spanish, and Latin, 
wrote pamphlets and essays, 
and gave time to society and 
the lodge. In 1736 he got 
his first salaried office, clerk of the Assembly ; and with that 
appointment began his long life of public service, more varied 
and extended than that of any other man in America. The fact 
that he signed the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of 
alliance with France, the treaty of peace with England, and 
the Federal Constitution, shows what great services he rendered 
to the United States. The last years of his life were spent in 
great feebleness and much physical suffering, and death was wel- 
come when it came, April 17, 1790. His remains were buried in 
Christ Church graveyard, at the corner of Fifth and Arch streets, 
where thousands stop every year to look at the modest tomb- 
stones of Benjamin and Deborah Franklin. 

THOMAS WHARTON, JR. (1777-78), was born in Philadel- 
phia, 1735, his grandfather having emigrated from England to 
Pennsylvania the year after Penn's arrival. Being a warm 
supporter of the Revolution, he was made President of the Su- 
preme Executive Council, in 1777, and as such, became the first 
Executive of Pennsylvania as a State. He died in office while the 
seat of government was temporarily at Lancaster, during the oc- 
cupation of Philadelphia by the British. At the request of the 
vestry, his body was entombed within the walls of Trinity Church, 
Lancaster. 

GEORGE BRYAN (May- December, 1778) was Vice-President 
of the Council when Thomas Wharton, Jr., died. He thereupon 



294 A History of Pennsylvania 

assumed the office of President and Chief Executive. He was a 
native of Ireland, and upon settling in Philadelphia engaged in 
the mercantile business, but was not successful. He was long in 
the public service — member of the Stamp Act Congress, of the 
Assembly, and of the Executive Council. He was a sincere pa- 
triot at all times, and his sympathy for his fellowman made him 
a champion for human freedom. (See p. 172.) He died in 1791, 
and lies buried in the Presbyterian graveyard, Arch street, near 
Fifth, Philadelphia. 

JOSEPH REED (1778-81) was born at Trenton, New Jersey, 
1741. After graduating at the College of New Jersey (Princeton), 
and studying law in London, he practiced law and held of&ce in his 
native State. Upon settling in Philadelphia, he became at once 
prominent in public affairs, serving on the Committee of Corres- 
pondence, in Congress, and in the Continental Army. He declined 
the ofQce of Chief Justice of the State, as well as a brigadier- 
generalship. As President of the Council, he was popular with the 
people en account of his energy, activity and patriotism. He was 
a leader in the establishment of the University of Pennsylvania, 
the abolition of slavery, and the divestment of the Penns of their 
proprietary rights. He died in Philadelphia, 1785, at the early 
age of 44, literally worn out in the service of his country. 

WILLIAM MOORE (1781-82), born in Philadelphia, was a 
merchant when the Revolution drew him into public affairs. He 
was active in the measures adopted by the State and Congress to 
remove the oppressions of England. After his term of oflBce as 
President of the Council, he entered the Assembly and kept up his 
interest in public affairs till he died, in 1793. 

JOHN DICKINSON (1782-85), though born in Maryland (1732) 
and living in Delaware for a time, is claimed by Pennsylvania as 
one of her greatest sons. After studying law in Philadelphia and 
London, he hung out his sign in Philadelphia. As early as 1764 
he was a member of the Assembly, and for the next twelve years 
the leading man in Pennsylvania. His star went down for a 
time, because he opposed the Declaration of Independence as 
premature ; but he was too great to skulk. He shouldered the 
musket in defense of liis country, and was made brigadier- general 
of the State militia. After he had retired to his farm in Delaware, 
he was first sent to Congress by that State and then elected as its 
executive. When the Revolution was over, Dickinson returned to 
Philadelphia and was soon after honored with the presidency of 
the Executive Council. In the Constitutional Convention, in 1787, 
and in the campaign for its ratification by the States, he again 
demonstrated his great power and influence. When our relations 
with France were on tlie point of breaking, he took up his pen 
for the last time. John Dickinson died at Wilmington, Delaware, 
in 1808. 



Biographical Sketches 295 

THOMAS MIFFLIN (1788-99), by his conspicuous services as 
statesman and soldier in the Revolutionary period and after, holds 
a high place in the history of Pennsylvania. He was born in 
Philadelphia in 1744, trained in the faith of the Quakers, and in- 
tended for the mercantile business, which he pursued for a time. 
He was chosen to the Assembly at the age of 28, and two years 
later he was a member of the first Continental Congress. At the 
opening of the Revolution he entered the Continental Army as 
major of a Pennsylvania battalion, and after the battle of German- 
town resigned as major-general. At the battle of Long Island, 
Mifflin covered the retreat and, in spite of a dreadful mistake in 
his orders, did it heroically. His resignation was forced upon him 
by impaired health, but Congress would not accept it, and he con- 
tinued his duties as quartermaster -general till 1778, and later on 
received the thanks of Congress for "wise and salutary plans rec- 
ommended," to reduce the general expenses. After the war, he 
was elected to Congress and served as President for a year. He 
was also a member of that great and honorable body which framed 
the Federal Constitution. His valuable services in the Legis- 
lature as Speaker of the Assembly and president of the Council, 
and in the convention which framed the constitution of 1790, over 
which he presided, made him the almost unanimous choice for the 
first Governor of the State. After holding this high office as long 
as the constitution permitted, he again- entered the Legislature 
and died in the harness, at Lancaster, in 1800. His remains are 
buried at the German Lutheran church of that city. 

THOMAS M'KEAN (1799-1808), whose parents were natives 
of Ireland, belonged to Pennsylvania and Delaware. He was born 
in Londonderry, Chester county, 1734, but studied and practiced 
law in New Castle, Delaware, and was a member of the Legisla- 
ture of that State. Having been well educated and endowed with 
great ability, he became one of the pillars of the Revolution. In 
the Stamp Act Convention, held in New York, he assisted in 
drawing up the address of the colonies to the House of Commons. 
He was a member of the Continental Congress from both Pennsyl- 
vania and Delaware, sitting in that body from 1774 to 1783. At 
one time he was both Chief Justice of Pennsylvania and President 
of Congress. He was at the head of the Supreme Court in Penn- 
sylvania for twenty-two years. He died in Philadelphia in 1817, 
and was buried in the grounds of the Presbyterian church, on 
Market street. 

SIMON SNYDER (1808-17) was born at Lancaster, and was 
the first of the German Governors of Pennsylvania. He was a 
tanner by trade, but of studious habits. At the age of 25 he en- 
gaged in the mercantile business at Selinsgrove, now Snyder 
county. He began his public career as justice of the peace. He 
helped to frame the Constitution of 1790, and after he entered the 
Legislature was chosen Speaker of the House for six successive 
terms. He was a candidate for Governor four times, being de- 



296 A History of Pennsylvania 

feated the first time by a small majority and elected the other 
times by large majorities. He died in 1819, while a member of 
the Senate, and his body rests in Selinsgrove. 

WILLIAM FINDLAY (1817-20), of Scotch-Irish descent, was 
born at Mereersburg, Franklin county. He began life as a farmer. 
After he was twenty -nine he was elected to the Legislature for a 
number of terms, and subsequently held the office of State Treas- 
urer for ten years. After serving one term as Governor, he was 
elected United States Senator and served one term. He finished 
his public career as an official of the United States mint. Mr. 
Findlay died at Harrisburg in 1846, at the residence of his son- 
in-law, Governor Shunk, and was buried in that city. 

JOSEPH HIESTER (1820-23) was a native of Bern township, 
Berks county, his father having emigrated from Germany. Joseph 
served his country most loyally in the Revolution. He raised a 
company at the very outbreak, and when the battalion was formed 
was appointed major. He was wounded and taken prisoner in the 
battle of Long Island, and was confined in a prison ship for a 
year. When exchanged, he was again wounded at Germantown. 
He received extensive training as a statesman in the Legislature, 
the constitutional convention of 1790, and Congress. He died in 
1832, and is buried in the grounds of the German Reformed 
church of Reading. 

JOHN ANDREW SHULZE (1823-29), born at Tulpehocken, 
Berks county, was the son of a German clergyman, and he himself 
had served as pastor of several Lutheran congregations in Berks 
county before his health demanded that he should engage in some- 
thing else. He entered the mercantile business at Myerstown, 
then Dauphin county, and, becoming interested in polities, was 
elected to the Legislature. When the new county of Lebanon was 
organized, in 1813, he accepted an office in it, which he held for 
eight years. After that, he again entered the Legislature, serving 
in both houses. At the end of his second term, he engaged in 
agricultural pursuits, but before his death he removed to Lancas- 
ter, where he died in 1852. 

GEORGE WOLF (1829-35) was a native of Allen township, 
Northampton county, but his father had been born in Germany. 
George received a classical and a legal education, and was well 
prepared for the important duties of his life. He studied law while 
he was principal of an academy, and rose rapidly in public favor. 
Having been a clerk in a county office before he was of age, it is 
not surprising that he had been postmaster of Easton, clerk of the 
orphans' court and member of the Legislature before he was forty. 
In 1824 he was elected to Congress, and served in that body till 
elected Governor, in 1829. After serving in the gubernatorial chair 
for six years aad writing his name indelibly upon the pages of Penn- 
sylvania's history, he entered the service of the United States in 



Biographical Sketches 297 

the capacity first of Controller of the Treasury and afterwards 
of Collector of the Port in Philadelphia, in which city he died in 
1840. His remains were buried in Harrisburg, the scene of his 
great services in behalf of his beloved State. Governor Wolf was a 
man of the people and always mindful of their best interests. He 
was the first executive to have his office in the Capitol; his prede- 
cessors had used a room in their private residence for that purpose, 
much to the annoyance of those who were not accustomed to ser- 
vants in waiting, stationed at every turn. 

JOSEPH RITNER (December 15, 1835 -January 15, 1839) was 
the third Governor born in Berks county. His father was a 
German farmer and, like most farmer boys of his day, Joseph 
received but a meager education. When a young man, he removed 
to Washington county, where he engaged in farming. By the 
force of his mental vigor, he soon proved himself a useful man 
in his new home, and the people honored him with a seat in 
the Legislature. He served six years and rose to the position of 
Speaker. As the successor of Wolf, he became the guardian of a 
precious legacy — the common school law ; and he handed it down 
to posterity without the loss of one jot or tittle. At the end of 
his career as Governor, Eitner retired to a farm near Mount 
Rock, Cumberland county, where he died at the ripe old age of 
eighty-nine. President Taylor, in 1848, appointed him Director 
of the Mint at Philadelphia, but a favorite of Fillmore succeeded 
to the office soon afterwards. The following are the opening 
lines of a poem by Whittier on Ritner's message of 1836: 

" Thank God for the token ! one lip is still free,— 
One spirit untrammelled,— unbending one knee !" 

DAVID RITTENHOUSE PORTER (1839-45), whose paternal 
ancestors had come from Ireland, was born in Montgomery county, 
near Norristown. Andrew, his father, was an officer in the Revo- 
lutionary army and was once offered a position in Madison's Cabi- 
net. Horace Porter, son of the Governor, distinguished himself in 
the Rebellion and was appointed Minister to France by President 
MeKinley. David received a classical education and, while assist- 
ing his father, who was Surveyor- General, studied law; but 
his health demanded a more active occupation. He therefore en- 
gaged in the manufacture of iron in Huntingdon county. After 
representing his adopted county in the Legislature, both as Repre- 
sentative and Senator, he was elected Governor and served two 
terms. He died at Harrisburg in 1867, and was buried there. 

FRANCIS RAWN SHUNK (1845-48) was of German descent 
and a native of Montgomery county, having been born near the 
Trappe, in the same year, with Governor Porter, 1788. At the 
early age of fifteen he began to teach, and when a young man he 
was appointed clerk in the Surveyor- General's office by Governor 
Porter's father. In 1814 he shouldered the musket in defense of 
Baltimore against the British. At the age of twenty-eight he 
began the practice of law and became interested in politics. He 



298 A History of Pennsylvania 

was clerk of the House of Representatives for several years and 
secretary to the Canal Commissioners. In 1842 he removed to 
Pittsburg and practiced his profession. About six months before 
his term as Governor had expired, he was forced to resign on ac- 
count of shattered health. He died July 30, 1848, and his dust 
reposes with that of his kindred, at the Trappe, his native place. 

WILLIAM FREAME JOHNSTON (1848-1852), whose father 
was Scotch-Irish, was born at Greensburg, Westmoreland county, 
1808. He received a common school and academic education, 
studied law and began the practice of his profession in Armstrong 
county. He soon rose to prominence and became district at- 
torney. He next represented his county in the House, and later, 
his district in the Senate. In the financial crisis of 1837, he 
proposed a measure of relief in the Legislature, whose salutary 
effects made him very popular. After his term as Governor, he 
was engaged in the manufacture of iron and the production of coal 
and petroleum. He was appointed Collector of the Port at Phila- 
delphia by President Johnson, but the Senate would not confirm 
him on account of its hostility to the administration. He died at 
Pittsburg in 1872, and was buried there. 

WILLIAM BIGLER (1852-55) was born of German parents, at 
Shermansburg, Cumberland county. While William was quite 
young, the family removed to Mercer county, where the father died 
and left them struggling on on a small backwoods farm. It would 
have been a great solace in his dying hour if he could have seen 
the future of two of his sons, one of whom, John, became Gover- 
nor of California, and the other, William, Governor of Pennsyl- 
vania. Burdened with the support of their widowed mother, the 
boys had to be content with a meager schooling. William learned 
the printing trade, and was employed for several years by his 
brother John, in the ofiice of the Centre Democrat, published at 
Bellefonte. Andrew G. Curtin, afterwards Governor, influenced 
William to commence the publication of a political paper at Clear- 
field. Under many misgivings, he founded the Clearfield Democrat, 
and laid the foundation of his political career. Disposing of his 
paper, he went into the lumber business and became the fore- 
most lumber merchant on the West Branch. He was elected to the 
State Senate in 1841, and in his own county received every vote 
cast but one. He was elected Speaker twice, and reelected to the 
Senate twice. His great service in the Legislature was rendered 
in advocating the bill giving the right of way for the construction of 
the Pennsylvania Central railroad. A great effort was made then to 
connect Philadelphia and Pittsburg by means of the Baltimore and 
Ohio railroad, through Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the west* 
ern counties of Pennsylvania, instead of by a direct route across 
the Alleghenies. After his retirement from the Governor's office, 
he became president of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Com- 
pany, and represented the State one term in the United States 



Biographical Sketches 299 

Senate. At the close of his public life, he devoted himself to his 
business affairs and to the welfare of his town — Clearfield — where 
he died and was buried in 1880. 

JAMES POLLOCK (1855-58), whose ancestors emigrated from 
the north of Ireland and settled in Chester county, was born at 
Milton, Northumberland county, 1810. He was educated at the 
academy of his native town and at Princeton College. His schol- 
arly attainments secured him the degree of LL.D. from his alma 
mater and from Jefferson College. Soon after being admitted 
to the bar, he was elected district attorney of Northumberland 
county. He represented his district in Congress from 1843 to 1849, 
and was then appointed president judge of the district including 
Northumberland. After the expiration of his official term, Gover- 
nor Pollock resumed the practice of law at Milton. He bore a 
prominent part in the convention at Washington, between the 
North and South, in 1860, to prevent an appeal to arms for the 
settlement of the strife between the two sections. He was Director 
of the Mint at Philadelphia from 1861 to 1866, and was instru- 
mental in getting the motto, "In God we trust," placed upon the 
coins. He received the same appointment again under Grant's 
administration. Mr. Pollock remained an honored and respected 
citizen until his death, which occurred in Lock Haven, in 1%2Q^ His 
remains are interred in the Milton cemetery. 

WILLIAM FISHER PACKER (1858-61), of Quaker ancestry, 
was born in 1807, in Howard township, Centre county, his father 
having removed from Chester county. Like his predecessors, 
Pollock and Bigler, William was left fatherless when a child, and 
had to encounter the hardships of life early. He learned the art 
of printing before he was fifteen, but, after working at the trade 
for a few years, studied law at Williamsport. However, he never 
applied for admission to the bar. Instead, he bought an interest 
in the Williamsport Gazette, and later helped to establish the 
Keystone, a Democratic paper at Harrisburg. He served on the 
Board of Canal Commissioners, was Auditor- General, and a member 
of the House and Senate before he became Governor. While in 
the Legislature, he took' the leading part in passing the bill to in- 
corporate the company that built the Northern Central railroad 
above Harrisburg. At the close of his term as Governor, Mr. 
Packer, owing to declining health, retired to his home in Williams- 
port, where he died and was laid to rest in 1870. 

ANDREW GREGG CURTIN (1861-1867) was born, 1817, in 
Belief onte. Centre county. His father was a native of Ireland, 
one of the first iron manufacturers in central Pennsylvania, and a 
man of liberal education and great prominence. Andrew was edu- 
cated in private schools at Bellefonte and Harrisburg, and in the 
academy at Milton. He read law at home, and took a course at 
Dickinson College. He commenced the practice in 1839, and at 
once took high rank in his profession. He entered the political 



300 A History of Pennsylvania 

arena to win. After helping Harrison and Clay and Taylor in 
their Presidential contests, his first prize came in the form of Sec- 
retary of the Commonwealth and Superintendent of Common 
Schools, under Pollock. As School Superintendent, he labored 
hard to enable the law establishing the county superintendency to 
take root in public opinion. Grovernor Curtin was called to rule 
the State at the most critical period of its history ; but he was equal 
to the occasion, and fulfilled every expectation that his inaugural 
address of 1861 had aroused in the minds of the people. So ar- 
duous were his duties that, at the end of his first term, his health 
demanded a change, and in November, 1864, he sailed for Cuba, to 
spend the winter months there. In 1868, he was a prominent 
candidate for Vice-President on the ticket with Grant, and when 
the latter had been elected President, he made Curtin Minister to 
Russia, a position he held till 1872. Pennsylvania's "Y\^ar Gover- 
nor" will always be held in the dearest remembrance. He de- 
voted every moment of his time, every thought of his mind, and 
every fiber of his strength, to the success of the Union army and 
the welfare of the boys from Pennsylvania who fought in that 
army. Yea, more ! From the time of that cold Thanksgiving 
morning when the two waifs, begging at his house in Harrisburg, 
told him their father had been killed in battle, his great heart also 
had a place for the soldiers' orphans. After retiring from public 
life, Mr. Curtin resided in Bellefonte until his death, in 1894. His 
remains rest in Union Cemetery. 

JOHN WHITE GEARY (1867-73), of Scotch-Irish descent, 
was born near Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland county, 1819. Be- 
fore he had graduated at Jefferson College, his father died and he 
had to teach school to finish his course. After a brief experience 
as a merchant's clerk in Pittsburg, he became a civil engineer. 
When the Mexican war broke out, his career as a soldier began 
with the appointment of lieutenant- colonel. Having won distinc- 
tion at Chapultepec, Geary was made Colonel, and first comman- 
der of the city of Mexico after its capture. 
Later, when the conquests of the war had been 
put under the control of the United States, 
Colonel Geary was made postmaster of San 
Francisco, then alcalde of the city, and finally its 
first mayor. Upon his return to Pennsylvania, 
he lived on his farm in Westmoreland county 
until 1856, when he was made Governor of the 
Territory of Kansas. He found the anti-slavery 
and pro -slavery parties arrayed in arms against 
each other ; but he disbanded their armies and 
sent them home. Under his course, the cause 
James Buchanan. ^^ slavery would have been crushed in Kansas 
then, but he resigned when Buchanan was 
elected, because he felt that he was no longer wanted. Early in 
1861, he raised the 28th Pennsylvania regiment and rose to the 




Biographical Sketches 301 

rank of brigadier-general. His command won glory at Fredericks- 
burg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, and in Sher- 
man's march to the sea. After the capture of Savannah, General 
Geary was made Military Governor. His ripe experience and 
patriotic services made him a great favorite for Governor of Penn- 
sylvania in 1866. His second term expired January 21, 1873, and 
he died suddenly on the 8th of the following month, at the Capital 
city, where he was buried. 

JOHN FREDERICK HARTRANFT (1873-79) was born in New 
Hanover township, Montgomery county, in 1830. As his name 
indicates, he was of German descent. Preparing for college at 
Treemount Seminary, Norristown, and taking the freshman year at 
Marshall College, Mercersburg, he graduated at Union College, 
Schenectady, in 1853. He read law, and was admitted to the bar 
at Norristown in 1859. Two years later, the young lawyer raised 
the 4th Pennsylvania regiment and helped to fight the battle of 
Bull Run, as a member of General Franklin's staff, the three 
months' enlistment of his regiment having expired the day before. 
He then organized the 51st regiment, led the famous charge that 
carried the stone bridge at Antietam, participated in all the 
engagements of the 9th corps, including Vicksburg ; was made 
brigadier -general in 1864, gallantly recaptured Fort Steadman, 
and was breveted major-general. After the war, he served as 
Auditor -General of the State two terms. When he retired from the 
Governorship, he was made major-general of the National Guard, 
and served successively as Postmaster and Collector of the Port, in 
Philadelphia. He died at Norristown, in 1889, and his body rests 
by the banks of the Schuylkill. An equestrian statue has been 
erected to his memory on the Capitol grounds in Harrisburg. 

HENRY MARTIN HOYT (1879-83), a descendant of an old 
New England family, was born at Kingston, Luzerne county, in 
1830. He worked upon his father's farm until he was grown. 
Then he prepared for college and entered Lafayette, but finished 
his education at Williams College, Mass., in 1849. He was a 
teacher in a high school at Towanda and in Wyoming Semi- 
nary at Kingston. He was admitted to the bar at Wilkes-Barre, 
in 1853. At the outbreak of the civil war he helped to raise the 
52d regiment, and was made lieutenant -colonel. For meritorious 
service he was mustered out at the close of the war as brevet 
brigadier- general. He served as Judge in the courts of Luzerne 
and as Internal Revenue Collector before he became Governor. 
When he left Harrisburg he practiced law in Philadelphia and 
Luzerne, and gained no little reputation as a historian and po- 
litical economist. He died in Wilkes-Barre in 1892, and is buried 
there. 

ROBERT EMORY PATTISON (1883-87 and 1891-95), whose 
ancestors dwelt across Mason and Dixon's Line, is the son of a 
prominent Methodist clergyman, and was born at Qiiantico, Som- 



302 A History of Pennsylvania 

erset county, Maryland, in 1850. The father removing to Phila- 
delphia, Robert was educated in the public schools of that city, 
graduating as the valedictorian of his class in the Central High 
School. He was admitted to the bar in 1872, and five years later 
was elected City Controller, an office which his valuable services 
enabled him to hold for two terms, though he did not belong to 
the ruling party. On the strength of the popularity thus ac- 
quired, he was nominated and elected Governor in 1882, the 
youngest that the State has ever had, being but thirty-two years 
old. Having spent four years as a private citizen, he was again 
elected Governor. Since his retirement in 1895, he has been 
living in Philadelphia. 

JAMES ADAMS BEAVER (1887-91), whose forefathers 
came from the Palatinate, in Germany, was born at Millerstown, 
Perry county, in 1837. He was prepared for college at Pine Grove 
Mills Academy, Centre county, and graduated at Jefferson Col- 
lege, Canonsburg, in 1856. He studied law at Belief onte and 
began his professional career there. When the civil war com- 
menced, he entered the army as first lieutenant of the Bellefonte 
Fencibles. He rose to be lieutenant -colonel of the 45th regiment, 
colonel of the 148th, a regiment mostly recruited in his own county, 
and, for distinguished conduct at Cold Harbor, to that of brevet 
brigadier -general. He was several times wounded and spent 
weary weeks in the hospital. At Ream's Station, where he lost 
his leg, he joined his regiment when he had barely recovered from 
a ghastly wound in his side, received in the first assault upon 
Petersburg. Mr. Beaver became a prominent lawyer and business 
man after the war, earnest in every duty and greatly devoted to 
religion and education. In 1895 he was appointed one of the 
judges of the Superior Court. 

DANIEL HARTMAN HASTINGS (1895-99) was born in Lamar 
township, Clinton county, in 1849. His father was a native of 
Ireland, and his mother, of Scotland. Daniel passed his boyhood 
days on a farm, attended the public schools, and before he was 
fifteen years of age taught a school in his own neighborhood. In^ 
1867 he had attained such standing as a teacher that he went to 
Bellefonte to take charge of the academy at that place. He next 
became principal of the public schools of Bellefonte, filling the 
position for seven years and improving himself by private study at 
the same time. After editing the Belief onte Bepuhlican, he read 
law and was admitted to the bar in 1875. He subsequently became 
interested in coal mining in Cambria county. It was while on 
business at Hastings, of that county, that the memorable flood 
occurred at Johnstown. Being Adjutant- General of the State, he 
made it his duty to assume control of the great work of relief ex- 
tended to the sufferers, and won high praises for his services. He 
was a candidate for Governor in 1890, but was defeated in the 
convention by twelve votes. 



Biographical Sketches 303 

WILLIAM ALEXIS STONE (1899-1903), of New England and 
Pennsylvania German descent, was born in Delmar township, Tioga 
county, 1846. His early life was spent on his father's farm. He 
was educated at the State Normal School in Mansfield. He joined 
the army before he was eighteen years old, as a private in the 187th 
regiment, and participated in the siege of Petersburg. He was 
several times promoted and was advanced to the grade of second 
lieutenant in 1865. After the war. Governor Hartranft appointed 
him assistant adjutant -general of the Thirteenth division. Na- 
tional Guard, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He studied 
law and was admitted to the bar in 1870, first practicing in Wells - 
boro and later in Pittsburg, where he served as United States 
District Attorney for the Western district of Pennsylvania. Be- 
fore becoming Governor, Mr. Stone served as a member of Con- 
gress for eight years. 



OTHER HISTORICAL PERSONS 

WILLIAM ALLEN, of Philadelphia, was Chief Justice of 
Pennsylvania from 1750 to 1774. He aided Benjamin West, and 
cooperated with Dr. Franklin in founding the College of Philadel- 
phia. He bought the land for the State House aiid paid for it with 
his own money. He believed in the cause of the colonies, but not 
in revolution or independence. He went to England in 1774, and 
there advocated a plan for restoring harmony. His sons agreed 
with him in sentiment, and all were on both sides of the contest at 
one time or another. Andrew was on the Council of Safety and in 
the Continental Congress, but deserted the cause in 1776, and his 
estate was confiscated. William was with Montgomery at Quebec, 
but in 1778 raised the regiment of Pennsylvania Loyalists. James 
took no part, but remained quiet in the country. 

JOHN ARMSTRONG, of Carlisle, after his daring achieve- 
ment at Kittanning, was of continued service to the frontier set- 
tlements during the French and Indian war, and in the Revolution 
he rose to be a major-general. He was at Fort Moultrie, and 
commanded the militia at Brandy wine and Germantown. He served 
twice in the Continental Congress. 

JACK ARMSTRONG, known as "Captain Jack," the "black 
hunter," the "black rifle," the "wild hunter of the Juniata," the 
"black hunter of the forest," was from Cumberland county. He 
entered the wilds of the Juniata, built himself a cabin and lived by 
hunting and fishing. One evening when he returned from his 
sports, he found his wife and children murdered and his cabin 
burned. From that time on he forsook civilized life, lived in caves, 
and protected the frontier settlers from the Indians, asking no re- 
ward but the gratitude of those whom he rescued. "Jack's Nar- 
rows," a narrow passage of the Juniata through Jack's mountain, 
below Huntingdon, was named after him. 



304 A History of Pennsylvania 

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON was a worthy successor of Alex- 
ander Wilson in bird- lore Though born in Louisiana, he spent 
a number of years in Pennsylvania. His father, in 1798, had 
bought him the Millgrove farm on the Perkiomen, near Schuylkill 
Falls. Here he married the daughter of an Englishman, who was 
his neighbor. Though he had previously formed a passion for 
birds, it was on this farm, where he had much leisure, that he 
pored over the idea of a great work on ornithology. He sold his 
place in 1810 and with the proceeds sailed down the Ohio, with his 
wife and child, on a bird sketching expedition. He spent years in 
American woods. In 1824 he went to Philadelphia, where he met 
Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who encouraged him to publish the re- 
sults of his researches. After two years more of exploration, he 
went to England to get subscribers for his work on " The Birds of 
America." He revisited America three times to make further re- 
searches, and died in 1851. 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BACHE was born in Philadelphia in 
1769. His father had come from England, and married Sarah, 
tne only daughter of Benjamin Franklin. The lad accompanied 
his grandfather. Dr. Franklin, to Paris, pursued his studies there 
and acquired a knowledge of printing. On his return to Phila- 
delphia he graduated at the College of Philadelphia, and in 1790 
published the first number of the General Advertiser, whose name 
was afterwards changed to the Aurora and General Advertiser. 
This paper became an ardent champion of the French Republic, 
and represented the anti- Federal party. Bache died of yellow 
fever in 1798. 

JOHN BARTRAM, born in what is now Delaware county, in 
1699, was the father of American botany. He established a 
botanical garden — the first ever attempted on this side of the 
Atlantic — ou the west bank of the Schuylkill, a little below 
Philadelphia, near Grey's Ferry. His mind was probably di- 
rected to a serious study of botany by James Logan. By the aid 
of friends Bartram was enabled to travel and gather specimens, 
maiiy of which were sent to Europe and eagerly studied there. 
His son William devoted himself to the same pursuit, and, being a 
single person, he traveled extensively, and on his return lived a 
life of seclusion at the old homestead. 

EDWARD BIDDLE was born in Philadelphia, and served as 
an officer in the French and Indian war. He then became emi- 
nent as a lawyer in Reading. He entered the Assembly before 
the Revolution, became its Speaker, and was a member of the first 
Continental Congress. He was also a member of Congress in 
1776, and one of the foremost advocates of independence, but 
could not attend the sessions on account of a lingering disease, to 
which he succumbed in 1779. 

NICHOLAS BIDDLE was born in Philadelpliia in 1750. At 
the age of fifteen he was left with three other shipwrecked sailors 



Biographical Shetches 305 

on an uninhabited island in the West Indies, and was not rescued 
for two months. He next entered the British navy; but soon re- 
signed in order to join a Polar expedition. Horatio Nelson, the 
hero of Trafalgar, was onboard the same vessel. At the outbreak 
of the Revolution Biddle was placed in charge of a vessel on the 
Delaware, but afterwards was sent to the Bahamas, where he 
made valuable captures. His next achievement was the capture 
of eleven vessels and several hundred men, on a cruise to the 
banks of Newfoundland. He had only one vessel with which to 
take these prizes and bring them back to Philadelphia. Biddle 
was now placed in command of the best ship of the navy and 
ordered to the West Indies. There, in 1778, he fell in with a 
British ship of superior armament, but would have won had not 
the magazine exploded and killed him and all his crew but four. 

JAMiES BIDDLE was a native of Philadelphia. He served in 
the war with Tripoli, and was taken prisoner. In the war of 1812 
he was a lieutenant on the Wasp when she captured the Frolic. 
He was put in command of the prize, but both ships were captured 
and taken to Bermuda. After his exchange he commanded the 
Hornet, and was wounded in the capture of the British Penquin. 
Besides a gold medal, Congress gave him the rank of captain. 

JEREMIAH SULLIVAN BLACK was born in the Glades, 
Somerset county, and was educated in a log school -house near 
his father's farm. He studied law and settled at York. At the 
early age of thirty-two he was elevated to the bench, reaching the 
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania nine years later, and serving in it 
eighteen years. He became Attorney -Greneral in Buchanan's 
administration, and towards its close was transferred to the posi- 
tion of Secretary of State. Upon his retirement from office, in 
1861, he resumed the practice of law at York. 

HUGH HENRY BRACKENRIDGE came to America from 
Scotland at the age of five and settled, with the rest of the family, 
in York county. He graduated at Princeton by teaching school at 
intervals and tutoring at college. He thought nothing of walk- 
ing twenty or thirty miles to get the loan of a book or newspaper. 
He taught school after graduation, and early evinced his ability as 
a writer. In 1776 he went to Philadelphia and edited the United 
States Magazine. He was licensed to preach, and served as chap- 
lain in the Revolutionary army ; but he studied law and settled in 
Pittsburg. Here he distinguished himself as a lawyer, a politician, 
a judge, and a writer. Brackenridge was mixed up to some ex- 
tent with the Whisky Insurrection, and he published an account 
of it. He was Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 
1799 to 1816. His chief work as an author is "Modern Chivalry," 
in which he gives an admirable picture of society in western 
Pennsylvania at the close of the eighteenth century. 

WILLIAM BRADFORD was one of the Quakers who, in 



306 



A History of Pennsylvania 



1682, landed in the woods where Philadelphia now stands. He 
was the first printer in the Province, but after a time was charged 
with printing seditious writings, though not convicted. How- 
ever, he had become obnoxious to the settlers and went to New 
York, where, in 1725, he started its first newspaper, The Neio 
York Gazette. For thirty years he was the only printer in the 
colony of New York. His son Andrew, born in Philadelphia in 
1686, was the only printer in Pennsylvania till about 1725, and he 
started, on December 22, 1719, the third newspaper in the colo- 
nies and the first in Philadelphia, the American Weeldy Mercury. 
He also had a book store, and was postmaster of the city for a time. 

SAMUEL BRADY was born in Shippensburg, and removed 
with his father to Union county, where he became a typical fron- 
tiersman. He joined the Revolutionary army at Boston when but 
seventeen, and at the battle of Monmouth won the rank of cap- 
tain. Like Van Campen, he was now selected to fight the Indians, 
and was stationed at Fort Pitt. In this capacity he won a reputa- 
tion for skill and daring that was not surpassed in all America. 
He hunted and killed Indians like game in the forest. He shot 
one Indian off a horse while the savage was carrying away a woman 
and her child ; he killed three others while they were sitting on a 
log planning how to make sure of his scalp ; and he escaped from 
death at the stake by pushing a squaw with a papoose on her 
back into the fire that had been kindled for him. 

CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN was born in Philadelphia 
in 1771, having descended from those who came to Pennsylvania 
in the good ship Welcome. He was the first American of note 
who made literature a profession, He established the Literary 
Magazine and American Begistcr in 1803 ; but discontinued it at 
the end of five years. Two of his novels, "Arthur Mervyn" and 

"Edgar Huntley," attained 
to the rank of standard 
romance ; but most of them 
have long since been for- 
gotten, though they were 
read with avidity in his 
day. Brown lived in hum- 
ble circumstances, in a 
" low, two - story brick house, 
standing a little in from the 
street, with never a tree or 
a shrub near it." He died 
in 1810. 

JAMES BUCHANAN, 
fifteenth President of the 
United States, was born at 
"Stony Batter," near Mercersburg, Franklin county, April 23, 
1791. He was the son of a Scotch -Irish trader, and was educated 




Birthplace of James Buchanan. 



Biographical Sketches 307 

at Dickinson College. He began the practice of law in Lancas- 
ter, 1812, and soon entered the Legislature. For ten years from 
1821, he was a member of Congress. After serving as Minister 
to Russia one year, he entered the United States Senate in 1834, 
and continued in that body till he was made Secretary of State 
by President Polk. In this position he had to settle the questions 
of "54° 40 or fight," of the acquisition of Texas, and of the 
Mexican war. Pierce sent him to England as Minister, and he 
was present at the Ostend conference, which was to bring about 
the sale of Cuba to the United States. In 1856 he was elected 
President, receiving besides the vote of several Northern States 
that of every slaveholding State except Maryland. Towards the 
close of his term, especially after Lincoln's election, the slave 
power made his administration most difficult, and his so-called 
"temporizing policy" was severely criticised. After his career in 
the White House he lived in retirement on his estate near Lan- 
caster, known as Wheatland. Here he died June 1, 1868. 

THOMAS H. BURRO WES, a native of Lancaster county, was 
educated at Quebec and in Trinity College, Ireland. He became 
a lawyer and practiced his profession in Lancaster. After serving 
in the Legislature, he was appointed Secretary of the Common- 
wealth by Governor Ritner, in 1835, and as such was ex-officio 
Superintendent of Common Schools, and entrusted with the execu- 
tion of the free school law passed the year before. His hand 
fashioned much of the school legislation between 1836 and the end 
of his second term as Superintendent of Common Schools, in 1863. 
Thus this man, who confessed in 1836 that he "knew no more about 
the details of schools than about the local geography of the moon," 
became a pillar in the structure of public education in Pennsylvania. 

ZEBULON BUTLER was born in Connecticut, and was a 
member of the committee of three under whose direction the first 
successful settlement was made in the Wyoming valley by the 
New Englanders. He was one of the judges while the valley was 
attached to Connecticut as the town (township) of Westmoreland. 
He was an officer in the Revolution. Being home at the time of 
the Massacre of Wyoming, he was the leader of the settlers on that 
dreadful July day, 1778. Ho died in Luzerne county, 1795. 

JOHN CADWALADER, of Welsh descent and born in Phila- 
delphia, was commander of " The Silk Stocking Company" when 
the Revolutionary movement began, and at once entered the 
service of the army. He was made brigadier-general and placed 
in command of the Pennsylvania militia. He cooperated in the 
capture of the Hessians and was present as a volunteer at 
Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. When the "Conway 
cabal" was formed, he challenged Thomas Conway to a duel and 
shot him in the mouth, but was himself unhurt. 

SIMON CAMERON was a native of Lancaster county. He 



308 A History of Pennsylvania 

worked at the printer's trade in his boyhood and youth, and ed- 
ited a newspaper in Doylestown and at Harrisburg after he had 
become of age. He next became interested in banking and the 
construction of railroads, and soon acquired wealth. He was 
elected United States Senator by the Democrats in 1843 ; but 
after the repeal of the Missouri Compromise he became a Re- 
publican. In 1857 he was again elected Senator, and served till 
1861, when Lincoln appointed him Secretary of War. Not agree- 
ing with the President on the question of freeing and arming the 
slaves, Cameron resigned and accepted the post of Minister at St. 
Petersburg. He was once more elected Senator in 1867, and 
served continuously for ten years. He died in 1889. 

ANDREW CARNEGIE came from Scotland at the age of ten 
years, his family settling in Allegheny. He began life there in a 
cotton factory, then became a messenger boy for a telegraph com- 
pany and worked himself up to the position of superintendent. 
He made a fortune in oil, became interested in iron works, and soon 
was the largest manufacturer of iron, steel rails, and coke in the 
world. His public gifts, in the form of libraries to Pittsburg, 
Allegheny, and other places have been princely. His success in 
Pennsylvania was so gratifying to his admirers in Great Britain 
that a seat in Parliament was offered to him and the freedom of 
cities extended. 

GEORGE CLYMER, whose name is affixed to the Declaration 
of Independence, was born in Philadelphia, and fell heir to the 
mercantile business of his uncle. When the opposition to Eng- 
lish rule became active, he resolved to live as a freeman or perish 
as a patriot. He was chairman of Philadelphia's tea committee, 
Continental treasurer, member of the Council of Safety, and a 
delegate in Congress at various times after July 20, 1776. In this 
body he labored hard and took high rank. His family lived in 
Chester county, and when he visited them he did so only for a 
night at a time. After the Revolution Mr, Clymer entered the 
Assembly, where his greatest service was that performed in behalf 
of abolishing the death penalty in all but the most flagrant cases 
of crime. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention, 
and of the first Congress. After serving as Revenue Collector of 
Pennsylvania during the Whisky Rebellion, he retired to private 
life and died in 1813, at Morrisville, Bucks county. 

JAY COOKE was born in Ohio, and entered a banking house 
in Philadeli)hia at the age of seventeen, becoming a partner when 
he arrived at his majority. He established the firm of Jay Cooke 
ife Co. in 1861, and placed most of the loans of the United States 
during the Civil War. His success as the agent of the Govern- 
ment gave him the name of the ^'Financier of the Rebellion." 
The house prospered until it became the fiscal agent of the North- 
ern Pacific Railroad Company. He failed September 19, 1873, 
"Black Friday," and precipitated the panic of that year. Though 



Biographical SJcetches 309 

Cooke lost his fortune, his character was unsullied. His mag- 
nificent mansion — Ogontz, named after an Indian chief who was 
his friend in childhood — is now "Ogontz Seminary for Young 
Ladies," and is situated at Chelton Hills, Montgomery county. 

MARGARET CORBIN was another heroine like " Mollie 
Pitcher." She was wounded and utterly disabled at Fort Wash- 
ington, while she heroically filled the post of her husband, who 
was killed by her side, serving a piece of artillery. Her name is 
found on the rolls of the Invalid Regiment of Pennsylvania, as it 
was discharged in 1783. She was born in Franklin county, and 
died in Westmoreland county about 1800. 

TENCH COXE, born in Philadelphia and educated there, be- 
came a merchant at the age of twenty-one — in the year of the 
Declaration of Independence. He turned royalist and left the 
city to join the British. He returned with Howe and was arrested 
and paroled after the evacuation of the city. Then he turned 
Whig and entered upon a long political career. He sat in the 
Annapolis convention, in the Continental Congress, and held 
other high places ; but veered from one side of party politics to 
another. His claims to a place in history lie in his labors for 
American manufactures and his writings on political economy. He 
may justly be called the father of the American cotton industry. 

WILLIAM CRAMP was born in Kensington, now in Phila- 
delphia. He began ship building on the Delaware in 1830, when 
he was but twenty-three years old. At first he built only barks 
and brigs, but he soon received orders for larger vessels. As his 
sons grew up and learned the business, he took them into partner- 
ship, under the name of William Cramp & Sons. The Civil War 
heralded them throughout the world as chiefs in their craft. It 
was then that the Delaware became known as the "Clyde of 
America." "New Ironsides" was built for the Government in 
seven months after the order had been received. Foreign nations 
have had war vessels built at Kensington, and our own navy has 
received its finest marine warriors from the Cramps. William 
Cramp died in 1879. 

GEORGE M. DALLAS, a lawyer of Philadelphia, mayor of 
that city, and district attorney, was United States Senator from 
1831 to 1832, when he became Attorney- General of the State. For 
two years he held the post of Minister to Russia. Dallas was 
elected Vice-President on the ticket with Polk, in 1844. He was 
put on the ticket to hold the protectionist vote in Pennsylvania for 
Polk, as against Clay ; but in spite of this he gave the casting vote 
in the Senate for the Walker Tariff of 1846. His last public office 
was that of Minister to England, under Buchanan's administration. 

STEPHEN DECATUR was born in Maryland while his father 
sojourned there on account of British occupation of Philadelphia. 
When the family returned in 1779, Stephen was three months old. 



310 A History of Pennsylvania 

He began service in the navy in 1798. In 1804 lie distinguished 
himself by destroying the Philadelphia, which had fallen into the 
hands of Tripoli. In the war of 1812 he captured the British ship 
Macedonian, and, after a stubborn fight, had to surrender the un- 
seaworthy President. In 1815 he performed a most valuable service 
for his country by humbling the Barbary powers, with a squadron 
of ten vessels. He concluded a treaty by which tribute was 
abolished and prisoners and property restored, thus adding another 
jewel to the crown of the American navy. He ended his career in 
a duel with Commodore Barron in 1820. 

WILLIAM DUANE was the successor of Baehe (see p. 304) 
in the management of the Aurora. He was a native of the north- 
ern part of New York. When a lad of five, he was brought to 
Philadelphia by his widowed mother, but soon afterwards taken to 
Ireland, where he was educated and apprenticed to a printer. 
Coming back to Philadelphia in 1796, he was employed as one of 
the editors of the Aurora. After Baehe's death, the paper was 
known for years as "Duane's paper "and was a powerful instru- 
ment m the organization and upbuilding of the Republican, or 
Democratic party. 

REV. JACOB DUCHE was born in Philadelphia, and graduated 
at the college of that city, completing his studies in England. As 
rector of Christ Church, he was a man of great influence when the 
Revolution commenced. He was chaplain of Congress in 1776, 
and gave all his salary for the relief of soldiers' widows and 
orphans. But his loyalty to the American cause failed when the 
British took possession of Philadelphia. He helped to welcome them, 
and wrote a letter to Washington urging him to give up a hopeless 
struggle. The letter was laid before Congress, and Duche fled to 
England. He returned some time after the war, but his influence 
and position were gone. 

JOHN ELDER, one of the first clergymen in the vicinity of 
Harrisburg, was a Presbyterian from Ireland, a graduate of the 
University of Edinburgh, a scholarly man and of varied ability. 
He was pastor of the congregation at Paxtang for nearly sixty 
years.. During the troublesome times with the Indians, he was 
colonel of the Paxtang Rangers. He and the men of his congre- 
gation frequently carried their rifles with them to church, so con- 
stant was their danger from the savages. The graveyard at Pax- 
tang, where Colonel Elder lies buried, and that at Derry Church, 
both in Dauphin county, are Meceas for the Scotch-Irish. 

OLIVER EVANS was a native of Delaware, but early in life 
came to Philadelphia, where he made the first high-pressure 
steam engine and the first steam dredging machine used in this 
country. This machine was put on wlieels and propelled itself to 
the Schuylkill river, where it w;is filted with a steam paddle and 
navigated down the Schuylkill and up the Delaware a short dis- 



Biographical Sketches 311 

tanee. It" is supposed to have been the first steam carriage on 
land in America. He urged the construction of railroads with 
rails of wood or iron, but had not the means to carry his ideas into 
execution. 

JAMES EWING was a native of Lancaster county, but early 
in life settled in York. He was a lieutenant in Braddock's expedi- 
tion, served with distinction through the whole of the Revolution, 
and rose to the rank of brigadier-general. 

JOHN FENNO was a native of Boston. He established the 
Gazette of the United States in New York, when the Government 
under the Constitution began, and removed it to Philadelphia the 
next year in order to publish it at the capital of the nation. 
Fenno's paper became a strong advocate of the Federal party and 
bitterly opposed the "French faction" in the United States. He 
died of yellow fever in 1798, four days after the death of his 
political antagonist Bache, of the Aurora. 

WILLIAM FINDLEY, a native of Ireland, came to Pennsyl- 
vania in early life, served in the Revolution, and settled in West- 
moreland county, where he became active in politics. He was a 
member of the Legislature and of the State convention that 
adopted the Federal Constitution. This he actively opposed on 
the ground of its centralized power. He was eleven times elected 
to Congress, serving from 1791 to 1799 and from 1803 to 1817. 
He was an ardent supporter of the Jeffersonian party and was a 
great power as a speaker. 

THOMAS FITZSIMMONS came to Philadelphia from Ire- 
land and engaged in the mercantile business. He served in the 
Revolution as captain of a company, and his firm subscribed 
$20,000 for the support of the army. He was a member of the 
Assembly for many years and a delegate in the Continental 
Congress from 1782-3. After his services in the Constitutional 
Convention in 1787, he served in the Federal Congress from 1789 
to 1795. 

JOHN WEISS FORNEY was born in Lancaster, in 1817, and 
learned the printer's trade. He went to Philadelphia and for a 
long time edited The Pennsylvanian. He was clerk of the House 
of Representatives at Washington, and while in that position ed- 
ited the Union. In 1857 he began the Philadelphia Press, and 
continued to be its editor till 1877. Under his management the 
paper became a very powerful organ, receiving and inflicting many 
heavy blows. It was popularly known as "Forney's Press." In 
1878, Colonel Forney established Progress, a weekly literary jour- 
nal, modeled after the London World. He died in 1881, widely 
known and deeply mourned, having enjoyed the friendship of all 
the leading men of the nation during his long career as a journalist. 

JOHN FITCH was born in Connecticut, and was a watchmaker 



312 A History of Pennsylvania 

by trade. He made guns for the Continental Army, and was with 
the troops at Valley Forge. Eobert Fulton is said to have had 
access to his drawings and papers, and it was proved by the 
courts, in 1817, that his inventions and those of Fitch were in 
substance the same. Fitch once said that the day would come 
" when some more potent man will get fame and riches from my 
invention, but nobody will believe that poor John Fitch can do 
anything worthy of attention." After his enterprise on the Dela- 
ware had failed he went to France, but the French Revolution pre- 
vented a renew^al of his steam navigation there. He finally went 
to Kentucky, where he had some land. Becoming involved in 
law suits with intruders on his possessions there, he committed 
suicide in 1798. 

ROBERT FULTON, the successful inventor of the steamboat, 
was born at Little Britain, Lancaster county, in 1765. He was 
at first a portrait painter, and at the age of 
twenty- one went to England. There he 
soon became interested in engineering and 
inventions. He next lived in France, where 
he invented the torpedo and vaiuly tried to 
get Napoleon, as well as the British Min- 
istry, to adopt it. He returned to America 
in 1806, and the next year the Clermont 
steamed from New York to Albany. He was 
afterwards employed by the Government in 
projecting navigation schemes; but owing to 
lawsuits over his patents, he never amassed 
Robert Fulton ^ fortune from his inventions, though they 

brought fortunes to other men. and were of 
the greatest importance in developing the interior of the United 
States. He died in New York in 1815. 

ALBERT GALLATIN, who made a lasting mark on the sur- 
face of national politics, w^as born at Geneva, Switzerland, and 
became one of the most illustrious American statesmen. He was 
educated in the university of his native city and came to America 
in 1780, at the age of nineteen. After varied experiences he 
settled in Fayette county, where he founded New Geneva and 
established glass-works. He soon entered the Legislature, and 
in 1793 was elected United States Senator, but was not admitted 
to his seat on account of a question raised about the time of 
ills citizenship. After his services as a mediator in the Whisky 
Insurrection, he entered Congress and distinguished himself in 
financial matters. From 1801 to 1813 he was Secretary of the 
Treasury, and made a record as one of the ablest American finan- 
ciers. He was one of the commissioners that negotiated the treaty 
of Ghent, doing more than anyone else to close the war of 1812. 
Madison offered to make him Secretary of the Treasury once more, 
but he declined, and accepted the place of Minister to France, 




Biographical Sketches 313 

which post he held seven years. In 1826 he was sent as Envoy 
Extraordinary to Great Britain. After retiring from political life, 
he engaged in banking in New York city, and died at Astoria, on 
Long Island, in 1849. 

JOSEPH GALLOWAY was Speaker of the Pennsylvania As- 
sembly from 1766 to 1774, and he proposed a form of government 
in the Provincial Congress favorable to the Crown. When the 
Howes issued their proclamation in 1776, granting amnesty to such 
Americans as would forsake their revolutionary course, Gallo- 
way's courage failed him and he turned Tory, together with the 
Aliens, one of the most noted families in the Province. 

" Galloway has fled and joined the venal Howe; 
To prove his baseness, see him cringe and bow, 
A traitor to his country and its laws, 
A friend to tyrants and their cursed cause," etc. 

His estates, with that of other Tories, were confiscated, and he went 
to England. 

STEPHEN GIRARD was a descendant of a French seafaring 
family, living near Bordeaux. When a boy of eight he lost his 
right eye and a little later his mother. Doubly unfortunate, 
Stephen was anxious to escape from the surroundings of his youth. 
Receiving several thousand dollars from his father, he sailed as a 
cabin boy to Santo- Domingo, made some money and formed a love 
for the sea. At the age of twenty-eight he sailed from Bordeaux 
as captain, never to return. Two years later, in 1776, he came to 
Philadelphia and stocked a small store with a cargo he had brought 
from the West Indies. He amassed a large fortune in foreign 
trade, his ships making voyages to Europe, India and China. He 
was very frugal in private life, but generous in public affairs. He 
worked in a hospital for several hours each day during the yellow 
fever epidemic, and staked his fortune to assist the country of his 
adoption in the war of 1812. He gave large sums to charity, and 
founded Girard College, which continually supports and educates 
some two thousand orphan boys within its walls. 

DAVID M'MURTRIE GREGG was born in Huntingdon in 
1833, graduated at West Point, and was assigned to the dragoons. 
After serving in several Indian campaigns, he entered the stern 
service of actual war in 1861. He began as first lieutenant in the 
cavalry and rose to be brevetted major-general of volunteers. He 
participated in most of the battles of the Army of the Potomac, 
and greatly distinguished himself as a commander of cavalry. His 
sterling qualities as a private citizen have been recognized on 
several occasions since the war. He was appointed Consul at 
Prague, Bohemia, in 1874, and was Auditor -General of the State 
from 1892 to 1895. He lives in Reading. 

GALUSHA A. GROW came to Pennsylvania from Connecti- 
cut in 1847, at the age of twenty-three, and settled in Susque- 
hanna county. He represented the " Wilmot district" in Congress 



314 A Hisforjj of Pennsylvania 

from 1851 to 1863, occupying the Speaker's chair during the trying 
time of 1861 to 1863. He then engaged in extensive business enter- 
prises, being president of a railroad and residing for a while in 
Texas. He declined a nomination for Congress in 1879, but was 
a candidate for United States Senator in 1881, in a long, hard- 
contested struggle in the Legislature. He was then out of poli- 
tics until 1894, when he was elected Congressman-at-large by the 
enormous majority of 188,000. He has been in Congress ever 
since — as tall and erect as in the days before the Civil War, 
when Keitfc, of South Carolina, assaulted him on the floor of the 
House and got the worst of the encounter. 

WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK was born in Montgomery 
county in 1824, and graduated from West Point at the age of 
twenty. He earned the title of veteran in the Mexican war by 
hard and gallant fighting, and held honorable positions in the 
regular army until the war of the Union broke out. Then he was 
summoned to Washington and made a brigadier-general in the 
Army of the Potomac. He was promoted to the rank of major- 
general, and by his magnificent bearing he won the soubriquet of 
"The Superb." His name was never mentioned as having com- 
mitted a blunder in battle for which he was responsible. He was 
the Democratic candidate for President in 1880, but was defeated 
by James A. Garfield. He died in 1886, and is buried at Nor- 
ristown. 

JOHN HARRIS, the first permanent settler on the Susque- 
hanna, was from Yorkshire, England, and came to Philadelphia 
some time before 1698. In 1705, he located on the Susquehanna 
as an Indian trader licensed by the province. He noticed the 
advantage of the location at the point where the Paxtang flows 
into the Susquehanna, and in 1825 established himself tliere per- 
manently, buying a large tract of land including the lower part 
of the present site of Harrisburg. He acquired a powerful sway 
over the Indians by his courage and good judgment. On one 
occasion he refused rum to some drunken Indians, and they tied 
him to a mulberry tree on the river front and were going to burn 
him. He was released by some friendly Indians who came to the 
spot just as the others were kindling the fire. When he died, 
in 1748, his remains, by his own request, were buried at the foot 
of that tree. Its decayed trunk stood in Harris Park till 1889. 
The grave is enclosed with an iron fence. His son, John Harris, 
was the founder of Harrisburg, and a prominent man in the 
affairs of the province, especially in the Indian wars. In 1753 
he got a charter to run a ferry across the Susquehanna, and the 
place became known as Harris' Perry. 

JOHN HAZLEWOOD was an Englishman by birth and came 
to Philadelphia as caj>tain in the merchant marine. After he had 
been made commodore of the PennsylvaTiia navy, the Continental 
vessels in the Delaware were also put under his command. While 



Biographical Sketches 315 

Lord Howe was with his floot in Dohxware bay, in 1777, he sent 
for Commodore Ilazk^wood iuid i)romiso(l liim His Majdsly's pardon 
and kind treatment il! ho woukl surrendor tlie Pennsylvania fleet. 
His only reply was that he would "defend the 'fleet to the last." 

JOHN HECKEWELDER was born in P^nj^land, and came to 
Pennsylvania with his ])ai*ents when he was twelve years old. 
Pie became a Moravian missionary, and worked chiefly among the 
Delawares after they had been removed to tlie Ohio. He pub- 
lished his observations upon i\m\v huiguage, Inihits and character. 
His views, which are v<M'y favora)»le to the Indians, have been 
warmly attacked and w:ii"mly del'endcHl. AftcH' laboring forty 
years among them, he went to Jiethlehem, where he passed the 
remainder of his days in retirement. 

FRANCIS HOPKINSON was a Pliiladelphlan, a graduate of 
the University of Pennsylv;inia, and a lawyer by profession. 
After spending a fcsw yeai-s in J^higland, he settled in Boi'deiitown, 
New Jersey, which State he represented in Congmss when the 
Declaration of Independence was signed. He helpcMl to draft the 
Articles of Confederation. He was also at the head of the Navy 
of the Revolution for a time. , By his witty satires and popular 
poems an<l songs, he greatly aiihnl tlie cause of liberty. lie was 
Judge of the Adraii-alty for Pennsylvania from 1771) to 1789, and 
afterwards a United States District Judge. 

JOSEPH HOPKINSON, son of Francis Hopkinson, of Revo- 
lutionary fame, was, like his father, a Piiiladelphian, a graduate of 
the University of Pennsylvania, a lawyer, a (congressman, and a 
United States District .ludge. JFe is known in literature by a 
single brief production only, the ])atriotic song of Hail Columbia, 
which was encored the fii'st time it was sung, by an audience that 
was "mad as the priestess of tiio Doric God." 

THOMAS HOVENDEN was Irish by birth and educated at the 
Cork School of Design. When a young man he came to America 
and studied art in New York. Later he went to Paris to study, 
and when he returned settled in Plymouth township, Montgomery 
county. He was a member of numerous art societies in Phila- 
delphia and New York. Ho painted many famous pictures, but 
is best known to the world by "Breaking Home Tic^s." Many a 
silent tear was dropped at the World's Fair by the multitudes that 
daily stood looking at "Bieaking Home Ties." What "Home, 
Sweet Home" is in song, "Breaking Homo Ties" is on canvas. 
Hovend(ai's negro pictui'os, notably "The Jjast Mom(uits of John 
Brown," were paint(Ml in the studio of an old barn that had once 
done service on the underground railway. "The Confederate in a 
Pennsylvania Farm House" was his noblest expression of the 
domestic incidents of the Union war. Ilovenden lost his life while 
trying to rescue a child from death under a locomotive, near Nor- 
ristown in 1895. 



316 A History of Pennsylvania 

CHARLES HUMPHREYS, brother of Joshua the shipbuilder, 
was born at Haverford, now Montgomery county. For many years 
he was a successful miller. He was a member of the Assembly in 
1764 and again in 1775. In the latter year he became a member of 
the Continental Congress ; and, although he opposed the oppres- 
sive measures of Great Britain, he voted against the Declaration of 
Independence. 

"SAMUEL HUMPHREYS was a noted shipbuilder of Phila- 
delphia. His father, Joshua, had been engaged there in the same 
occupation, and had designed and constructed the Constitution, 
the Chesapeake, the Congress, the President, and the United 
States. After the war of 1812, Samuel was asked to come to 
Russia to organize a navy, but declined, saying, "Whether my 
merit be great or small, I owe it all to the flag of my country, and 
that is a debt I must pay." Because he had designed, drafted, 
and constructed most of the ships launched at the port of Phila- 
delphia, and thus had helped to make the American navy victori- 
ous over England — a victory which France, Spain and Holland 
had all failed to achieve — he was made Chief Naval Constructor of 
the United States. He held this distinguished place until he died, 
in 1846. 

JARED INGERSOLL, born in Connect'icut and educated at 
Yale, met Benjamin Franklin in Paris, and soon after commenced 
the practice of law in Philadelphia, where he rose to distinction. 
He was an ardent patriot during the Revolution, member of Con- 
gress in 1780-81, and so was well prepared for the great duty of 
his life — to help frame the Constitution. He held important State 
offices afterwards, and declined the appointment of Chief Justice of 
the Federal Court. 

WILLIAM IRVINE was born in Ireland, and settled at Carlisle 
as a physician when he was twenty-one years old. In 1776 he 
raised a regiment and joined the army in Canada, where he was 
captured at the battle of Three Rivers. After his exchange iu 
1778, he was put in command of a Pennsylvania brigade at the 
battle of Monmouth, and remained its commander until 1781. He 
was then transferred to Pittsburg to guard the frontier, which was 
menaced by tlie British and Indians. While there he became 
interested in the northwestern section of the State, and it was 
largely through him that tlie State afterwards purchased "the 
triangle." To show its gratitude for his labors, the State donated 
him a tract of land on Lake Erie. General Irvine was a member 
of the Continental Congress two years and of the third Congress 
under the Constitution. His last service in the field was as senior 
major-general in command of the troops raised to suppress the 
Whisky Insurrection. The close of his life was spent in Phila- 
delphia, where he held a Federal office. General Irvine had two 
brothers in the Revolution and three sons in tlie War of 1812. 

ELISHA KENT KANE was a native of Philadelphia, and a 



Biographical Sketches 317 

graduate in medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. He 
served on the medical corps of the United States Navy, and thus 
cultivated a love for travel, which he gratified by visiting many 
parts of the world. He evinced his daring on the Philippine 
Islands by descending the crater of a volcano to its very bottom, 
charring his boots and becoming insensible from gas. In 1850, he 
joined the Arctic expedition sent out in search of Sir John 
Franklin. Upon the return of the expedition from its fruitless 
voyage, he organized one under his own command and set sail in 
1853, taking as sargeon Dr. I. I. Hayes, of Chester county, who 
afterwards himself became a noted Arctic explorer. Though 
Franklin was not found. Dr. Kane's explorations and scientific 
observations were most valuable. He reduced to geographical 
certainty more than a thousand miles of coast line in Greenland. 

JOHN KELLEY was born in Lancaster county, but became 
a frontiersman in Union county. In December, 1776, he joined 
Washington's army as major in the Northumberland battalion. 
After the battle at Princeton, when Cornwallis was close upon the 
heels of Washington's army, the commander-in-chief detached 
Kelley with a party of Pennsylvania troops to destroy a bridge on 
Stony creek, to prevent the advance of the enemy. Kelley cut the 
timbers with his own hand midst a rain of British balls. When the 
bridge fell, he went down with it into the floating ice, and made 
his way into camp the same night, not alone, but in company with a 
British soldier whom he had captured on the way. Kelley died at 
Lewisburg, where a monument was erected in his honor. 

KIASHUTHA had his home on the broad bottom-lands just 
above Sharpsburg, Allegheny county, which still bear his name. 
He was one of the active and remarkable Indians of Pennsylvania. 
He appears to have been detailed by the Iroquois, as early as 1758, 
to watch the Delawares and Shawanese, then living at and near 
Fort Duquesne. He lent himself to the schemes of Pontiac 
and allied himself with the British m the Revolutionary war. 
Later, he again became the 

friend of the settlers, visited ^^ ^ ^ -^ 

General Wayne, and tried to '■^'^^ " "-"'--^ 

induce the western Indians to 
submit to the Government. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

was born in Amity township, 
Berks county, in 1736. He 
was a man of considerable 
influence in the General As- 
sembly, in the Pennsylvania 
convention to ratify the Fed- Home of Mordecai Lincoln, 

eral Constitution, and in the 

State convention which framed the Constitution of 1790. He died 
at his residence in Exeter township, in 1806. His father was 




318 A History of Pennsylvania 

Mordecai Lincoln, who had come to Berks county from Massa- 
chusetts, and died in Amity township in 1735. Mordecai had 
much property — some of which was in New Jersey, where he 
willed three hundred acres to his son John. This John Lincoln 
left New Jersey some years later, established himself in Virginia, 
and was the grandfather of the President. The Lincolns were 
closely allied to the ancestors of Daniel Boone, also of Berks 
county. Squire Boone, the father of Daniel, was one of the ap- 
praisers of Mordecai Lincoln's estate, and his "loving friend and 
neighbor ;" while Abraham Lincoln, the subject of this sketch, 
was married to Anna Boone, a first cousin of Daniel. 

LOGAN was the second son of Shikellimy, and was named after 
James Logan, the Indian's best friend after Penn had left the 
province. Logan lived for a long time near a large spring still 
bearing his name in the Kishacoquillas valley, six miles from 
Lewistown. Removing to the west in 1771, he located on the Ohio 
river some thirty miles above Wheeling. Here his whole family 
was murdered by some whites, in a drunken carousal. To avenge 
this foul deed, he ordered his chiefs to commit the most frightful 
barbarities among the whites. When he was asked to consent to a 
treaty of peace, he made a reply that schoolboys might well commit 
to memory. It opens with these words: "I appeal to any white 
man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave 
him not meat ; if ever he came cold and naked and he clothed him 
not." 

ALEXANDER KELLY McCLURE was a native of Sherman's 
valley. Perry county. He was a farmer's son, educated in the 
village school, and apprenticed to the tanner's trade. But when 
he had learned it he established the Juniata Sentinel at Mifflin. 
He next took charge of the Chambersburg Repository, and at the 
age of twenty- six became a lawyer. Having taken a very active 
part in State and National politics, he soon after entered the Legis- 
lature, and was chairman of the Senate Committee on Military 
Affairs in 1861-62. He was a close friend of Curtin and Lincoln, 
having done yeoman service for the election of both ; he played a 
prominent part in Pennsylvania and the Nation during the Civil 
War. When the Confederates burned Chambersburg, he had 
scarcely time to get out of town before the invaders' torch was 
applied to all the property he had. In 1868 he went to Phila- 
delphia, and after practicing law there and serving another term 
in the State Senate, he estal)lished the Times, in 1875, of which he 
has ever since been the editor. His close relations with Lincoln 
and other public men of the Civil War enabled him to write a 
valuable work, entitled "Lincoln and the Men of War Times." 

GEORGE A. M'CALL was born in Pliiladelphia, graduated at 
West Point, and served in the Seminole and Mexican wars. 
President Taylor made him Inspeetor-Genernl of tlie United States 
army, and in 1861 Governor Curtin appointed him major-general 



Biographical Sketches 319 

of the Pennsylvania Reserves. He was with the Army of the 
Potomac until the battle of Frazier's Farm, where he was taken 
prisoner. After his exchange, his health made it necessary for 
him to resign. He died near West Chester in 1868. 

GEORGE BRINTON M'CLELLAN was born in Philadelphia 
in 1826, and educated at the University of Pennsylvania and at 
West Point. He had just finished his military course when the 
Mexican war commenced. After it was over the Government sent 
him to Europe as an expert, to report the operations of the 
Crimean war. Upon his return, he was engaged by the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad as civil engineer, and afterwards became a railroad 
president. When the Civil War broke out he was appointed 
major-general and placed in command of Western Virginia, where 
he greatly distinguished himself. After the disaster at Bull Run, 
he was made commander of the Army of the Potomac, and soon 
after succeeded General Scott as commander-in-chief. In organ- 
izing the Army of the Potomac, he performed a most valuable 
service ; but in his campaigns before Richmond, he disappointed 
the authorities at Washington, and was relieved of the command. 
Pope's disasters restored MeClellan for two months, in which time 
he fought the battle of Antietam. When he was again removed 
and placed on waiting orders, he resigned from the army, in 1864. 
The same year he was the Democratic candidate for President, and 
received 21 electoral votes. He was Governor of New Jersey, 
1878-1881, and died at South Orange, in that State, in 1885. 
"Little Mac" was very popular with the Army of the Potomac, 
in spite of criticism outside of it. 

GEORGE GORDON MEADE was born in Cadiz, Spain, while 
his father was United States Consul there. Upon the return of 
the family to Philadelphia, George was educated in the public 
schools, and afterwards entered as a cadet at West Point. He 
served in the Indian war in Florida and in the Mexican war, and 
was promoted for brave conduct in battle. In 1861 he was made a 
brigadier -general in the Pennsylvania Reserves. The next year 
he rose to the rank of major-general, and after the battle of Chan- 
cellorsville was assigned to the command of the Army of the 
Potomac, which position he held until the close of the war. 
General Meade was highly honored by the people for his high 
character, his great military ability and the important part he 
took in the war of the Union. Philadelphia presented him a 
house, and after his death, in 1872, raised a fund of $100,000 for 
his family. 

WILLIAM M. MEREDITH, who for many years held the fore- 
most rank in Pennsylvania as a lawyer, was born in Philadelphia. 
He helped to frame the Constitution of 1838 and that of 1873, being 
chairman of the convention that framed the latter. He became 
Secretary of the Treasury in 1849 and held the office until Presi- 
dent Taylor's death. He was Governor Curtin's Attorney -General, 



320 A History of Pennsylvania 

and was offered the position of counsel for the United States in the 
Geneva arbitration of the Alabama question. Pennsylvania has 
reason to be proud also of Samuel Meredith. The Merediths are 
Welsh. Samuel's father came from Wales and had the honor of 
entertaining Washington when the latter first came to Philadel- 
phia — a young man unknown to greatness and to fame. The two 
accidentally met in a coffee-house, and Meredith made the young 
Virginian his guest while remaining in the city. Samuel, the 
son, was a prominent officer in the devolution and for a long time 
afterwards was Treasurer of the United States. He was a partner 
in business with George Clymer, and the firm contributed liberally 
to the cause of liberty. Ai30ut 1800 they invested largely in lands 
in northeastern Pennsylvania. Meredith built himself a mansion 
at Belmont, near Pleasant Mount, Wayne county, where he died 
in 1817. He lies buried in a neglected grave. 

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS came to Pennsylvania in 1778, as a 
delegate from New York to the Continental Congress, then in 
session at York. He became a citizen of Pennsylvania, and prac- 
ticed law in Philadelphia. He was Assistant Superintendent of 
Finances under Robert Morris, delegate from Pennsylvania to the 
Constitutional Convention, and Minister to France. After his 
return from Europe, he again lived in New York, where he died 
in 1816. 

ROBERT MORRIS, the financier of the Revolution, emigrated 
from Liverpool to Philadelphia when he was a boy, and served 
as a clerk for the Willings — the rich merchant firm of which he 
was afterwards a member. He rescued Congress repeatedly from 
financial crises, by borrowing money on his own and his firm's 
credit. The $1,500,000 for Washington's campaign against Corn- 
wallis was raised by his exertions and on his own notes. From 
1781 to 1784 he was Superintendent of Finance, and on several 
occasions kept the new nation from going into bankruptcy. When 
the Constitutional government, which he helped to form, went 
into effect, he was elected United States Senator. He was urged 
to become Secretary of the Treasury, but he refused, and sug- 
gested Hamilton. In his later years he was unsuccessful in busi- 
ness, lost his fortune, and was at one time imprisoned for debt. 
Thus the man who once had owned the most magnificent home in 
the city of Philadelphia died in comparative poverty. 

JOHN MORTON was of Swedish ancestry and was born in 
Ridley township, Chester county (now Delaware). His education 
was very limited, but hisialents were great. He was a surveyor 
and a farmer until he became engrossed in public business. He was 
justice of tlie peace, slieriff, common pleas and supreme judge, 
member and Speaker of the Assembly, delegate to the Stamp Act 
Congress, to the first Continental Congress and to the second. His 
last "year in Congress was the most important part of his life; for 
he was called on to decide whether to vote for the Declaration of 



Biographical Sketches 321 

Independence or against it. He chose the wiser course and voted 
for it. He died in April, 1777, at the age of fifty-four, and lies 
buried at St. James church, in Chester. To those who could not 
forgive him for his vote in favor of independence, he said in his 
dying hour: "Tell them they will live to see the hour when they 
shall acknowledge it to have been the most glorious service I ever 
rendered to my country." 

LUCRETIA MOTT, a native of Massachusetts and the wife of 
James Mott, began her career in Pennsylvania as a school teacher 
in Philadelphia. Soon after she became a preacher in the Society 
of Friends. She made a tour through New England and the Middle 
States, preaching and denouncing slavery and intemperance. She 
was one of the founders of the American Anti-slavery Society, in 
1833. She was a delegate to the World's Anti- slavery convention, 
held in London, 1840, but was excluded because she was a woman. 
Her exclusion increased the woman's suffrage agitation, in which 
she now became a leader. She took part in the first woman's 
rights convention, in 1848. She remained active in the cause of 
anti-slavery and woman's rights to the end of her long life, in 1880. 

HEINRICH MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG was born in Ger- 
many in 1711. He was a graduate of Gottingen and a man of great 
scholarship and culture. He had intended to become a missionary 
in Bengal, but received a call from Pennsylvania to labor among 
the destitute Lutheran population, which had been much neglected. 
He labored hard in his pastoral charge of Philadelphia, New 
Hanover and Providence, and preached in many other places, 
making long journeys and gaining a wide acquaintance. He was 
also instrumental in bringing other educated ministers from Ger- 
many into the province, thus laying a deep and broad foundation 
for the Lutheran Church. During the Revolution he was an ardent 
patriot, and through his great influence did much for the cause of 
liberty. He was so outspoken that his life was often in peril. At 
his death, which occurred in 1787, there was deep and widespread 
sorrow, which found expression in tolling bells, churches draped 
in mourning and the preaching of many funeral sermons. 

JOHN PETER GABRIEL MUHLENBERG, son of Heinrich 
Melchior, was born in Montgomery county, and educated at Halle, 
Germany. He studied for the ministry and preached at Wood- 
stock, Virginia, when the Revolution broke out. He showed his 
partiality for a soldier's life while in Germany, for he ran away 
from the university and joined the dragoons. It was not sur- 
prising that he told his congregation in- Virginia one Sunday that 
there was a time to fight and a time to preach. At the close of the 
service he tore off his gown, showing himself in full uniform, and 
reading his commission as colonel. He invited the men of his 
congregation to follow his example, and they did almost to a man. 
He did valiant service for the cause of liberty, and retired at the 
close of the war with the rank of major-general, having partici- 

U 



322 A History of Pennsylvania 

pated in nearly all the campaigns in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and 
Virginia, as well as at Stony Point and Charleston. Soon after he 
returned to Pennsylvania, where he was elected to the Executive 
Council and both houses of Congress. He closed his public career 
as Collector of the Port at Philadelphia. He and Robert Fulton 
are Pennsylvania's representatives in Statuary Hall of the National 
Capitol. 

FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG, son of Heinrich 
Melchior, was born in Montgomery county, educated at Halle, Ger- 
many, and preaiihed for a time in New York city. He represented 
Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress in 1778 and 1780, and 
was president of the convention that ratified the Constitution of 
the United States. When the new government was organized in 
1789, Frederick A. Muhlenberg was chosen Speaker of the first 
House of Representatives. He was also Speaker of the third Con- 
gress. 

GOTTHILF HEINRICH MUHLENBERG was another son of 
Heinrich Melchior. He, too, was educated at the University of 
Halle, which he entered at the age of ten and attended for seven 
years. Then he traveled in Germany and England. When he 
returned to America he was ordained as a minister and assisted his 
father in the church in Philadelphia. When the British took pos- 
session of the city he retired to the country, where he devoted 
himself to his favorite study — botany — and acquired a world-wide 
reputation as a botanist. 

LINDLEY MURRAY, of Quaker descent, was born on the 
Swatara, within the present limits of Dauphin county, in 1745. 
He resided in England the greater part of his life ; but his school 
books were republished in this country, numerous editions being 
brought out in Philadelphia. They soon displaced the text-books 
of other authors in Pennsylvania, notably those of Noah Webster, 
which had been so largely used. 

JOHN NEVILLE was a native of Virginia, served with Brad- 
dock and through the Revolution. Becoming a citizen of Allegheny 
county, he held several important civil offices. In 1791, when the 
excise law was passed, President Washington appointed him in- 
spector for western Pennsylvania, hoping that his great popularity 
would allay the opposition to the law in that section. 

ISAAC NORRIS was a very influential Quaker of Philadelphia. 
Isaac, his father, was likewise a prominent man in the Province, 
and lived in great luxury in a mansion at Fair Hill. Isaac, the 
son, acquired a large fortune in addition to what he inherited. 
He became a member of the Assembly in 1734, and was Speaker of 
that body for fifteen years after 1751. Norris proposed the in- 
scription "Prochiim liberty throughout the land unto all the in- 
habitants thereof," on the State House l)ell, wliich was ordered 
from England the first year he was Speaker. He was a strict 



Biographical Sketches 323 

Quaker, and defended the peace policy of the province whenever 
wars broke out. His followers, in opposition to the war party, 
were called the "Norris party." 

THOMAS PAINE, familiarly called Tom Paine, came to Phil- 
adelphia from England, where he had been an exciseman and a 
political writer. He came here at the opening of the Revolution 
and edited the Pennsylvania Magazine. Besides his Common Sense, 
he published the Crisis, which appeared at intervals during the 
war. His services as a writer were of great value to the American 
cause. After the formation of the State, he was clerk in the Leg- 
islature. When the French Revolution broke out, he was first in 
France and then in England. Being outlawed by the English on 
account of his "Rights of Man," he returned to France, was elected 
to the convention, imprisoned by the Jacobins, and wrote his 
"Age of Reason." He returned to the United States, and died in 
New York in 1809. 

FRANCIS DANIEL PASTORIUS, born in Germany in 1651, was 
educated in the classical and modern languages and all the science 
of his age, and trained in the practice of the law. He arrived in Phil- 
adelphia, August, 1683, and in October began to lay out German- 
town. He was its first bailiff, a member of the Assembly, and a 
signer of the first protest against slavery made in America. This 
protest is the subject of Whittier's poem, "The Pennsylvania 
Pilgrim." Pastorius taught school in Germantown and Philadel- 
phia for many years. He published several works and left others 
in manuscript. His Latin prologue to the Germantown book of 
records was translated by Whittier in^the ode beginning "Hail to 
Posterity." He died in Germantown in 1719. 

ROBERT PATTERSON came to this country from Ireland 
when quite young and entered the employ of a merchant in Phila- 
delphia. After going through college, he entered the army in the 
War of 1812, and rose to be captain. He then became a promi- 
nent manufacturer in Philadelphia. When the Mexican war broke 
out, he again buckled on his sword, and was appointed major- 
general of United States volunteers. He distinguished himself at 
Cerro Gordo, and when the Civil War commenced, the offer of his 
services at the first call for volunteers was very welcome. He was 
assigned to the command of the department of Pennsylvania, 
Delaware and Maryland. Having enlisted only for three months, 
and being nearly seventy years old, he was mustered out of ser- 
vice after the battle of Bull Run. He engaged again in manu- 
facturing! and lived to the ripe old age of eighty- nine. 

REMBRANDT PEALE, born in Philadelphia in 1778, was the 

son of Charles W. Peale, who was for nearly twenty years the 
only portrait painter of note in America, having made the first 
likeness of Washington, and the likenesses of nearly all the Revo- 
lutionary oflBcers. The son produced a portrait of Washington at 



324 A History of Pennsylvania 

the age of seventeen. He studied abroad for a number of years, 
and when he returned to Philadelphia painted the famous " Court 
of Death" and "The Roman Daughter." He made a great effort 
to have drawing introduced in the schools, but was not very success- 
ful. Both the father and the sou studied under Benjamin West. 
Eembrandt died in 1860. 

TIMOTHY PICKERING, though a native of Massachusetts 
and a resident of that State in the early and late years of his life, 
was identified with so much of Pennsylvania's history that he 
deserves a place in it. As adjutant -general in Washington's 
army, he was at Brandywine and Germantown ; later he served on 
the Board of War and was made quartermaster -general. At the 
close of the war, he went into business in Philadelphia, but re- 
moved to Wilkes-Barre in 1786. He was the leading spirit in the 
settlement of the land dispute between Pennsylvania and the 
Connecticut settlers in the Wyoming valley. He organized 
Luzerne county, and was a delegate from that county in the Penn- 
sylvania convention that ratified the Constitution of* the United 
States. He negotiated treaties with the Six Nations, was succes- 
sively Postmaster- General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of 
State. From the last office he was dismissed by John Adams be- 
cause he would not resign. He again settled on his lands in 
Pennsylvania; but a number of his friends in Massachusetts 
bought them in order to induce him to return to his native State, 
which he did, and afterwards served in both houses of Congress. 

" MOLLY PITCHER'S " true name was Mollie Hays. Her 
husband was an artillery sergeant. She accompanied him to the 
war, and after two years of camp life immortalized her name at 
the battle of Monmouth by taking his place at his gun when he 
was wounded and by carrying water for the wounded after the battle. 
The latter act won for her the name of "Molly Pitcher." After 
Sergeant Hays died, she married George McCauley. This ex- 
plains the inscription on her tombstone in the old Carlisle grave- 
yard : 

"MOLLIE McCAULEY, 

RENOWNED IN HISTORY AS 

•MOLLIE PITCHER,' 

THE HEROINE OP MONMOUTH. 

DIED JANUARY. 1833, AGED 79 [?] YEARS. 

ERECTED BY THE CITIZENS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, JULY 4, 1876." 

DR. WILLIAM PLUNKET was the first resident physician of 
Northumberland county. He was a native of Ireland, and on his 
arrival in America settled at Carlisle. Ho was lieutenant and 
surgeon in the French and Indian war, an<l received for his ser- 



Biographical SJcetches 325 

vices several hundred acres on the West Branch. To this he gave 
the name of "Soldier's Retreat" and established his residence 
there. He took part in the opening scenes of the Revolution, but 
became neutral afterwards. 

JOSEPH PRIESTLY was an English Unitarian clergyman, 
a scientist, and an author. He made many discoveries in chem- 
istry, and in 1774 discovered oxygen gas. His theological views 
being obnoxious, his church and property were destroyed by a 
mob and he came to America in 1794. He resided at North- 
umberland and continued his scientific investigations there until 
his death, in 1804. In 1874, the scientists of America celebrated 
the centennial anniversary of the discovery of oxygen at North- 
umberland. 

SAMUEL J. RANDALL was born in Philadelphia, in 1828, 
and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He entered politics as mem- 
ber of the councils. He served in the State Senate, and at the 
outbreak of the Rebellion joined the Union army as a private. 
In 1863 he was elected to Congress, where he remained until his 
death, in 1890. He was Speaker of the House from 1876 to 1881, 
and was long the recognized leader of the Democrats in the 
House, except in matters pertaining to the tariff, on which ques- 
tion he was a protectionist. His national reputation made him a 
prominent candidate for the Presidency, and he was brought for- 
ward in the Democratic conventions of 1880 and 1884. 

THOMAS BUCHANAN READ, the Poet-Painter, was born 
in East Brandywine township, Chester county ; lived in Philadel- 
phia and Cincinnati, spent much of his time abroad, and died in 
New York, in 1872, shortly after his return from the last sojourn 
in Europe. He was not alone a great poet, but an artist, too. His 
portrait of "Sheridan and His Horse" has attained almost equal 
celebrity with his popular poem on "Sheridan's Ride." "Longfel- 
low's Children" is another favorite painting. His reputation as a 
poet rests in the short lyrics contained in his "Lays and Ballads." 
"Sheridan's Ride" was dashed off by the author at a hotel an 
hour or so before attending a reception given to General Sheridan. 

JOHN FULTON REYNOLDS was a native of Lancaster and 
a West Point graduate. After gallant services in the Mexican 
war, he was appointed commander of cadets at the military 
academy. He entered the war of the Union as lieutenant-colonel 
and rose to the command of a corps. General Meade and the en- 
tire Army of the Potomac lost a brave soldier and a noble gentle- 
man when Reynolds fell before Gettysburg. He was but forty- 
three years old, and had it not been for a sharp-shooter's bullet 
he might have won glory on many another battlefield. His re- 
mains were buried in the Lancaster cemetery on the Fourth of 
July, when Lee's army was in full retreat across Mason and 
Dixon's Line. 



326 A History of Pennsylvania 

DAVID RITTENHOUSE was born on a farm near German- 
town, in 1732. He showed his mechanical genius at the age of 
seven by making a little waterwheel, and ten years later he had 
made a clock with his own hands. Mathematics engaged his mind 
while at work on the farm. He used fences and iDuildings as 
blackboards. Before he was of age he had mastered the "method 
of fluxions," of which he for a long time supposed himself the sole 
discoverer. He constructed the most complete orrery that had 
ever been made ; it is now in possession of Princeton University. 
Later on he made a still larger one for the University of Penn- 
sylvania. Rittenhouse succeeded Franklin as president of the 
American Philosophical Society, and was also a prominent man 
in the councils of the State and Nation. He helped to form the 
first constitution of Pennsylvania, was State Treasurer from 1777- 
1789, member of the Board of War, and the first Director of the 
United States Mint. He died in 1796, at his home in Philadel- 
phia, corner of Seventh and Arch. An eulogium upon his char- 
acter was delivered in the presence of Washington, members of 
Congress, the State Legislature, and the City Councils. 

SAMUEL RHOADS was a wealthy builder in Philadelphia 
and repeatedly a member of the Assembly before the Revolution. 
He was elected to the first Continental Congress while he was 
mayor of the city. He helped to found the Pennsylvania hos- 
pital and was an active member of the Philosophical Society. 

JOHN ROACH, a native of Ireland, came to this country at 
the age of fourteen, and settled in New York as a machinist. He 
established a foundry and made the largest engines then in use. 
He was very successful, and in 1871 bought the shipyards at 
Chester. His plant covered 120 acres and was valued at 
$2,000,000. He built sixty-three vessels in twelve years, chiefly 
for the United States. On the refusal of the government to ac- 
cept the Dolphin, in 1883, he made an assignment and closed his 
works; but they were re-opened when the vessel was accepted. 
He built more than a hundred iron vessels altogether, and con- 
structed the sectional dock at Pensacola, Florida. He died in 
1887. 

GEORGE ROSS was a native of New Castle, Delaware, and 
was classically educated.' He settled in Lancaster, 1751, and 
practiced law. He served in the Assembly several years and 
was prominent in all the movements that led to the Revolution. 
His first important service was performed as a delegate to the 
Provincial Convention in 1774. The Assembly elected him as one 
of the delegates to the first Continental Congress. He next 
raised a company of associatoi's, and was president of the Lan- 
caster Military Convention, July 4, 1770. He was vice-president 
of the convention that framed the first State Constitution, and at 
the same time a member of Congress, affixing his name to the 
Declaration of Independence, August 2, 177(5, in a hand that was 



Biographical SJietches 



327 



second only to John Hancock's in strength and boldness. He 
died, as Judge of the Admiralty Court, in 1779. A memorial pil- 
lar was erected in 1897, on the site of his house in Lancaster. 

BETSY ROSS was the wife of John Ross, a nephew of George 
Ross, the signer. The 
house where the flag was 
made is now 239 Arch 
street, below Third, in 
Philadelphia — a small two- 
storied and attic tenement, 
formerly No. 39. She was 
a Quaker lady, engaged in 
upholstering. Washington 
was a frequent visitor at her 
house and knew her skill 
with the needle. She em- 
broidered his shirt ruffles 
and did many other things 
for him . He , together with 
Robert Morris and George 
Ross, her husband's uncle, 
called on her, in June, 1776, 
and told her they were a 
committee of Congress and 
wanted her to make the flag 
from a rough drawing. 
She replied, "I don't know 
whether I can, but I'll try." 
She suggested that the de- 
sign was wrong, the stars 
being six-pointed and not 
five-pointed, as they should be. This and other changes on the 
drawing were made by General Washington, in her back parlor. 

PETER FREDERICK ROTHERMEL was born in Nescopeck, 
Luzerne county, 1821. He came to Philadelphia in his childhood, 
and commenced life as a surveyor. At the age of twenty -two he 
followed the natural bent of his mind, dropped the surveyor's 
chain and took up the painter's brush. In 1856 he went to Europe 
and studied art three years. On his return he was elected a mem- 
ber of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He produced 
numerous well-known paintings, some of which are owned abroad. 
After the CiviJ War the Legislature of Pennsylvania commissioned 
him to paint the " Battle of Gettysburg." He completed the colossal 
work in 1871, and received $25,000 for it. It hung in Memorial 
Hall, Philadelphia, until the Executive Building was erected at 
Harrisburg, when it was placed on the wall of the Flag Room. 
He died at his home in Liufield, Montgomery county, August, 
1895, in the same week with Hovenden. 




Betsy Ross House. 



328 A History of Pennsylvania 

BENJAMIN RUSH was born in Byberry township, Philadel- 
phia county, northeast of the city. He graduated at Princeton 
and studied medicine here and abroad. He practiced his profes- 
sion in Philadelphia with great devotion and success. During the 
yellow fever epidemic of 1793, he stuck to his post when all but 
two other physicians had fled. For a whole week, he visited and 
prescribed for about 120 patients per day, and many had to leave 
his office unaided. He was a professor of medicine in the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, and had numerous office students. To 
his fame as a practitioner and teacher of medicine, Dr. Rush 
added the distinction of being an eminent author. He was the 
first writer on temperance in America. He also mixed in the 
councils of the State and Nation, and employed his talents in the 
cause of liberty. In July, 1776, he was chosen a member of Con- 
gress, and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, though not one of the delegates present at the adoption. 

CHRISTOPHER SAUR (now Sower) was born in Germany, 
graduated at Marburg University, and studied medicine. He 
came to Philadelphia in 1724, settled in Lancaster county as a 
farmer, but removed to Grermantown soon afterwards. Feeling the 
want of books among his countrymen here, especially in the line 
of religion, he imported Bibles and other works from Germany. 
After he had established his printing house, he issued in the Ger- 
man language an almanac — long continued by his descendants, a 
magazine — among the first in America, and in 1843, the Bible — 
Luther's translation, the largest work yet published in the colonies, 
and with the exception of Eliot's Indian Bible, the first Bible 
printed in America. Saur is supposed to have invented cast-iron 
stoves; at least he introduced them into general use. He also 
practiced his profession and made eight-day "grandfather" clocks. 
His son, Christopher, who was likewise a prominent man in the 
province, especially in the Tunker Church, continued the publish- 
ing business. The house is still known as the Christopher Sower 
Publishing Company, after an unbroken existence of one hundred 
and fifty years. 

MICHAEL SCHLATTER was born in Switzerland and was 
sent to America by the Reformed Synod of Amsterdam to look 
after the German emigrants of that denomination in Pennsylvania. 
He was pastor of the churches in Philadelphia and Germantowu 
and organized congregations in this State and in New Jersey, 
Maryland and Virginia. He induced other ministers to come to 
America anti assisted in organizing the synod of America. His 
work in behalf of the education of the German settlers was untir- 
ing and most laudable. In 1757 he was chaplain of an expedition 
to Nova Scotia against the Frencli, and for espousing the cause of 
liberty in the Revolution he was imprisoned when the British 
occupied Philadelphia. 

THOMAS A. SCOTT was born in Franklin county, and on 



Biographical Sketches 329 

account of his father's death was obliged to leave school at the 
age of ten years and earn his livelihood. After filling several 
clerical positions, he began his railroad career at Columbia, where 
he was collector of tolls on the line of the State railroad. He 
was promoted to be chief clerk in the collector's office in Phila- 
delphia; and in 1850 he entered the service of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company as station agent at Duncansville, then the 
western terminus of the road. He now rose from one position to 
another, becoming vice-president of the company in 1860, and 
president in 1874. It was largely owing to Colonel Scott that the 
Pennsylvania railroad attained to its high rank among the trunk- 
lines of America — a rank that is second to none. It was during 
the war of the Rebellion that his great abilities were put to the 
severest test. Governor Curtin called him to Harrisburg in 1861 
to direct the movement of troops from the North and the West 
while en route through the State on their way to Washington. 
When the bridges of the Northern Central railroad had been de- 
stroyed, Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, asked Governor Cur- 
tin to send Scott to Washington in order to open a new route. 
Though he was needed in Harrisburg, the Governor released him 
and in a short time the movement of troops below Mason and 
Dixon's line was again uninterrupted. When Lincoln heard the 
good news, he said, "Thank God ! we are all right again !" Scott was 
now mustered into the United States service as colonel and ap- 
pointed Assistant Secretary of War. In this position he kept up 
an. incessant stream of cars, carrying troops and supplies, across 
the Potomac and the Ohio into the heart of the Confederacy. 
Colonel Scott's useful and well-rounded life ended in 1881. 

SHIKELLIMY was of Oneida birth and was probably born in 
New York. He first appeared in Pennsylvania about 1728, living 
on the West Branch, below Milton. Later on, he established him- 
self at Shamokin as the chief of all the Iroquois on the Susque- 
hanna. His influence was courted by the provincial authorities, 
and he attended nearly all the treaties made in his time. He was 
a warm friend of the Moravian missionary, Zeisberger, and of 
Weiser. W^hile in Bethlehem the last time he was converted. On 
his way home he took sick, and died shortly after his return. 
Zeisberger was his spiritual adviser in the last hours, and had him 
buried in a coffin. Another important and interesting character, 
near Shamokin, was Madame Montour, a French Canadian, who 
had married Roland Montour, a Seneca brave, and lived on the 
Chenasky as early as 1727. In that year she acted as interpreter 
in Philadelphia between the Governor and the Five Nations. At 
the death of her husband, John and Thomas Penn condoled with 
her publicly, in Philadelphia, while she attended a treaty. Her 
son Andrew was also a provincial interpreter for a number of 
years. He received a grant of land northwest of Carlisle, and was 
captain of a company of Indians in the English service. The 
French set a price of £100 on his head. 



330 A History of Pennsylvania 

WILLIAM SMITH, D.D., was a native of Scotland, educated 
at the University of Aberdeen, and of g^reat learning and executive 
ability. He came to New York at the age of twenty-four, but was 
induced by Franklin to settle in Philadelphia and become the first 
Provost or President of the College of Philadelphia, a position he 
held until the institution was merged into the University of Penn- 
sylvania. He took great interest in political affairs, as well as in 
matters of church and education. He sided with the Proprie- 
taries, and the Assembly had him arrested at one time and thrown 
into jail. But his work as a teacher went on, for his classes met 
him in the prison. When the Revolution commenced he was an 
ardent supporter of the American cause, preaching loyal sermons 
and making patriotic addresses. However, in 1777, he was arrested 
for disloyalty, supposedly because he regarded the Declaration of 
Independence as premature. He gave his i)arole and retired to 
Maryland, whence he returned in 1789, to receive back what he 
always called "My College." 

JAMES SMITH was one of the men who signed the Declara- 
tion of Independence. When a lad, he came to this country from 
Ireland, and settled with his father on the west bank of the Sus- 
quehanna. He was educated in the classics to some extent, be- 
came a surveyor and a lawyer, practicing these blended professions 
first near Shippensburg, then at York. He resided all the rest of 
his life in York, and was for a long time the only resident lawyer 
there. At the outbreak of the Revolution, he at once took an 
active part in behalf of liberty. He raised the first Pennsylvania 
company for resistance to Great Britain, was a member of the 
Provincial Convention in 1774, and served as a delegate in Con- 
gress. He died in 1806. 

EDWIN M. STANTON, of Quaker stock, was born in Ohio, 
and practiced law there until 1848, when he settled in Pittsburg 
and became leader at the bar of Allegheny county. He went into 
Buchanan's cabinet as Attorney-General, to fill a vacancy. When 
Simon Cameron resigned the portfolio of Secretary of War, Lincoln 
selected Stanton to fill the place. His management of the War 
Department was noted for vigor and integrity. He became em- 
broiled at times with politicians and officers, especially with 
McClellan and Sherman. He remained in Johnson's cabinet after 
Lincoln's death, but was suspended by the President on account 
of serious disagreement. This action brought the quarrel be- 
tween the President and Congress to a head. Stanton was re- 
stored but again removed, and the President's impeachment fol- 
lowed. Congress passed a vote of thanks to Mr. Stanton on his 
retirement. He resumed the practice of law, but his long and 
arduous labors had undermined his strength, and he died in 1869. 

ARTHUR ST. CLAIR came to America as a Britisli soldier, in 
17r)8. He was lioni in Edinburgh, Scotland, and served under 
General Wolfe at Quebec. He established himself in Westmore- 



Biographical Sketches 331 

land county, and took the side of the colonies in the Revolution. 
He served through the whole war and rose to the rank of major- 
general. He represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Con- 
gress from 1785 to 1787, and was president of that body when it 
passed the famous Ordinance of 1787, by which the Northwest 
Territory was organized. He was Governor of this Territory from 
1789 to 1802. He commanded the expedition against the Miami 
Indians, which ended so disastrously. He was sick at the time 
and gave his orders on a litter ; but public opinion obliged him to 
resign his command. After his long and distinguished public ser- 
vice, he lived poor and neglected on Chestnut Ridge, Westmore- 
land county, till he died, in 1818. 

THADDEUS STEVENS was born in Vermont. He made 
shoes, taught a country school, and graduated at Dartmouth Col- 
lege before he came to Pennsylvania, as assistant teacher in the 
academy at York. Stepping from teaching to law, he began to 
practice at Gettysburg. He rapidly rose to distinction, and was 
sent to Harrisburg as a law-maker. He took no prominent part 
in the passage of the free school law except to vote for it. But 
when its repeal was threatened, he defended it with all his match- 
less logic and eloquence, and won the day against determined op- 
position. In honor of its author, the speech was beautifully 
printed on silk by some free school friends in Reading, and 
proudly kept by him until his death. He performed great ser- 
vices for the nation later on, but he himself always regarded his 
successful defense of free schools in Pennsylvania as the greatest 
achievement of his life. In 1841 he removed to Lancaster, where 
he was elected to Congress in 1848. He served in that body four- 
teen years, dying in Washington in 1868. He was one of the 
boldest and ablest statesmen who sustained the Union in its 
hour of peril. He was a sincere and consistent friend of the 
colored race. He ordered in his will that his body should not be 
buried in a cemetery where the color line was drawn. He served 
in Congress when he ought to have been at home enjoying the 
twilight of his life ; for during his last year he was daily carried 
in a chair to his seat. 

CHARLES STEWART was born in Philadelphia, and entered 
the United States Navy in 1798. He captured three French ships 
in 1800, and distinguished himself in the Tripolitan War. In the 
summer of 1813 he took command of the Constitution, and captured 
three English vessels that year, and two in each of the following 
years of the war. He received a vote of thanks, a sword, and a 
gold medal, from Congress; a vote of thanks and a sword from the 
Pennsylvania Legislature ; and from New York the freedom of the 
city. From the people he received the sobriquet of "Old Iron- 
sides." He remained in the navy till he died, in 1869, a period of 
seventy-one years, and rose to be rear-admiral. He was the 
grandfather of Charles Stewart Parnell, the great Irish Home Rule 
leader in the British Parliament. 



332 



A History of Pennsylvania 



HENRY WILLIAM STIEGEL, the founder of the quaint old 
town of Manheim, Lancaster county, emigrated from Manheim, 
Germany. He was a very eccentric character. He made frequent 
visits to his furnace and always drove a four-in-hand. It is said 
that he had a watchman stationed in the cupola of his mansion to 
announce his return home by firing a cannon. A band organized 
among his employes then proceeded to the cupola and many of the 
villagers repaired to his residence to join in the demonstrations. 
Among the recorded facts of his eccentric life is this: When he 
deeded the lots upon which the Evangelical Lutheran church was 
built, in 1770, the price was to be a red rose, to be paid yearly 
upon demand. The red rose is paid to his descendants to this 
day. It constitutes a very unique and beautiful observance in the 
church, and has attracted much attention in recent years in the 
newspapers and magazines. The Baron afterwards became re- 
duced in circumstances, and ended his life in a log house at 
Womelsdorf, where he taught a village school. 
" Baron Stiegel ist der mann, 

Der die CEfen gieszen kann." 
Baron Stiegel is the man 

Who can cast the stoves. 

BAYARD TAYLOR (1825-1S78) was a native of Kennett 
Square, Chester county, and lived there after his many travels by 
land and sea, though he died at Berlin, Germany. Before he was 

twenty -one, he went to 
^^^- Europe and made a trip on 

foot among the most inter- 
esting places. His experi- 
ences were recorded in 
"Views Afoot, or Europe 
Seen with Knapsack and 
Staff." This work made him 
famous at once, and he was 
in a position to write other 
books — of travel, poetry and 
fiction— and to become pop- 
ular as a journalist and lec- 
turer. As a novelist, he de- 
picted American life, par- 
ticularly life in Pennsylva- 
nia, as in "Hannah Thurs- 
ton" and "The Story of Kennett." In his verse, too, he often 
drew material from his own State, as, in " The Pennsylvania 
Farmer." The greatest of his poetic efforts is the translation of 
"Goethe's Faust." He loved Germany and tlie German people. 
While his father was a descendant of an English immigrant of 
1681, his grandmothers on botli sides were of German descent. It 
was a fitting coincidence, tlierefore, that he should have died in 
the German capital, as tiie American minister to Germany. 




Library of Buyard Taylor at Cedarcroft. 



Biographical Sketches 333 

Bayard Taylor was the greatest literary man Pennsylvania has 
produced, and Kennett Square may be proud to be his cradle 
and his grave. 

GEORGE TAYLOR was an Irishman by birth, the son of a 
clergyman, who gave him an education more liberal than most 
youths received at that time. On his arrival in America he paid 
for his passage by working in the iron works of Durham, Bucks 
county. He made money, bought an estate in Northampton 
county, and fixed his residence there. He was soon after sent to 
the Assembly and served five years in that body. He was active in 
the movement which led to the Revolution, and entered Congress 
in July, 1776, with Ross, Smith, Rush and Clymer, to take the 
places of those who had opposed the Declaration. He was there- 
fore one of the members not in Congress on the 2d of July, but on 
the 2d of August, when the engrossed document was signed. 
Taylor died in Easton in 1781. 

TEDYUSCUNG was a frequent visitor to Philadelphia, and 
had acquired a free use of English. He was one of the ablest 
of Indian chiefs, but was too fond of liquor. At Albany, while 
negotiating a treaty, he was so much under its influence that his 
wife had to rebuke him publicly. At his earnest request, he was 
baptized by the Moravians; but he relapsed into his old ways, 
though not without regret. Blamed by his own people for siding 
with the English, and envied by the Iroquois for his influence in 
the councils of the province, he was between two fires during 
most of the French and Indian war. In 1763, he burned to death 
in his own house at Wyoming while asleep in bed. Some Iro- 
quois Indians put him to sleep with liquor and then set fire to his 
house. Tedyuscung was the last chief of the Delawares on the 
east side of the Alleghenies. 

WILLIAM TENNENT was a native of Ireland, liberally edu- 
cated, and while there a clergyman in the Episcopal Church. He 
came to America in 1718, and was received as a minister into the 
Presbyterian Church. After a brief pastorate in New York, he 
came to Bucks county, where he remained to the close of his life. 
He preached at Neshaminy; and on land that was given him by 
James Logan he erected the "Log College," a name probably 
given to the school at first in contempt. About 1840 a part of one 
of the logs was found and a cane made from it and given to one of 
the professors of Princeton Seminary. 

CHARLES THOMSON came to Pennsylvania from Ireland at 
the age of eleven. He was a very influential man during the 
Revolution, both in the councils of the State and the United 
States. He was called "the Sam Adams of Philadelphia." He 
was scholarly and true to his principles. The Indians had so 
much respect for him that he was elected a member of the Dela- 
ware tribe. They called him "the man of truth," and it used to 



334 A History of Pennsylvania 

be a saying — "It is as true as if Charles Thomson's name were 
under it." lie was Secretary of the Continental Congress during 
its entire history from 1774 to 1789. He had made a careful 
record of all the proceedings and reduced it to the form of a book ; 
but for fear of offending some of the Eevolutionary families, he 
afterwards burned the manuscript. This was probably the greatest 
mistake of his life ; for much valuable history is buried in his 
grave. He died in 1824. 

MOSES VAN CAMPEN was a Dutchman from the Minisink 
settlement on the Delaware, but lived near the present site of 
Bloomsburg most of his life, and was famous for his daring in the 
border warfare on the Susquehanna. He and 
a companion once freed themselves at night 
from a guard of nine Indians, killing all but 
one of them. After this wonderful escape, 
he was in great demand to organize bands 
against the Indians. In 1782 he was ordered 
by the government to clear the West Branch 
about Williamsport of Indians. But in this 
he failed ; for he was captured, carried to 
Niagara, and delivered to the British. When 
the Indians learned who he was, they de- 
manded him back. The British officer prom- 
ised to protect him if he would renounce the 
Moses Van Campen. American cause. He replied that he would 
die the most cruel death the Indians could in- 
flict before he would dishonor the character of an American officer. 
His loyalty secured him protection, and he was exchanged when 
the war closed. He died in New York State at a very old age. 

JOHN WANAMAKER was born in Philadelphia in 1838 and 
received a common school education. He became a merchant and 
built up the largest retail business in the United States. He was 
a member of the Centennial Commission and contributed much to 
its success. He has always taken great interest in Christian and 
philanthropic work. He is the superintendent of the largest Sun- 
day School in the world, and a very prominent member of the 
Young Men's Christian Association. He was Postmaster-General 
in President Harrison's Cabinet, and made many improvements in 
the postal service by his business-like methods. 

ANTHONY WAYNE was a native of Chester county, and 
played the soldier so much in his boyhood that his father made him 
choose between the farm and his books. He took the latter and 
became a surveyor. In 1774 he was sent to the Provincial Conven- 
tion in Philadelphia, then to the Assembly, and the next year was 
a member of the Committee of Public Safety. In 1776 he joined 
the Northern array as colonel of a regiment. His soldierly quali- 
ties secured him promotion first to the rank of brigadier and then 
to that of major-general. He was wounded at Three Rivers, 




Biographical Sketches 335 

fought at Brandy wine, was twice wounded at Germantown, re- 
ceived honorable mention for bravery at Monmouth, and a gold 
medal from Congress for his capture of Stony Point. The people 
expressed their appreciation of his daring by calling him "Mad 
Anthony." He was also present at the capture ef Cornwallis. 
Georgia afterwards gave him a farm for driving the British out of 
her borders. In 1791 that State sent him to Congress, but in a 
contest for a seat he lost. He then received the command of the 
Federal army, and once more distinguished himself by subduing 
the Indians of Ohio in the battle of Fallen Timbers. He died in 
the old fort at Presque Isle', in 1796, and was buried " at the foot 
of the flag-staff," according to his request. In 1809 his remains 
were carried to Chester county. 

CONRAD WEISER at the age of fourteen emigrated from 
Germany with his parents and a company of Palatines. They 
settled in a body in New York. Here young Conrad lived for 
eight months with an Indian chief, who took a great fancy to him 
and taught him the Indian language, so valuable in his life. In 
1723, with many of his German neighbors in New York, he settled 
at Tulpehocken, near Reading. He engaged in farming and ac- 
quired a large tract of land in Heidelberg township. His knowl- 
edge of the Mohawk secured him the position of interpreter for 
the province, in 1732. He held this position as long as he could 
attend to its duties, and was present at all the treaties made. 
His word was held in great respect by the red men. During the 
French and Indian war he was commander of all the forces raised 
west of the Susquehanna. In his last years he lived in Reading. 
He died in 1760, and is buried in the family graveyard, near 
Womelsdorf. 

BENJAMIN WEST was born in the county of Chester (now 
Delaware) in 1738. He was born a Quaker and had a strong de- 
sire to become a painter, but received little encouragement be- 
cause his sect then were opposed to "likenesses" of all kinds. 
However, he overcame all obstacles in his way. He drew his 
sister's baby while he watched it, he learned from the Indians 
how to prepare some simple colors, and he despoiled the cat's 
whiskers to make a brush. A present of a painter's outfit was 
sent to Ben one day by a Friend in Philadelphia, who had de- 
tected his wonderful talents while on a visit to the Wests. With 
it he made a painting that gave evidence of his future greatness. 
In 1759, he visited Italy to study under the great artists. Then he 
found his way to London, where he was patronized by the King 
and became the president of the Royal Academy of Arts. He died 
in London in 1820. 

GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE was born in New York, and as a 
boy became familiar with machinery in his father's agricultural 
works at Schenectady. He entered the Union army in 1863, and 
after his return became a student at Union College. However, the 



336 A History of Pennsylvania 

spirit of invention, which had made him most useful in the army, 
was too strong to be shut within college walls. Going to Troy one 
day, a delay, caused by a collision, suggested to Mr. Westing- 
house the idea of a brake under the control of the engineer. 
Being invited to Pittsburg, as agent for the introduction of steel 
frogs, he traveled much among railroad men, and finally got con- 
sent to try his air-brake on the "Pan-Handle," between Pittsburg 
and Steubenville. A train of four cars and an engine was fitted 
out, in 1868, and the first application of the brake prevented a 
collision with a wagon on the track. The Westinghouse Air- 
Brake Company was formed the next year, and since then Mr. 
Westinghouse has taken out more than 1,000 patents, including 
those of the air-brake, the union switch and signal apparatus, 
and electric lighting. In 1891 the Westinghouse Electric and 
Manufacturing Company was organized for the manufacture of all 
these patents. The works are in East Pittsburg and employ thou- 
sands of operatives. 

WILLIAM WHITE, of Philadelphia, graduated from the col- 
lege there at the age of 17. He completed his theological 
studies in 1770, took holy orders in England, and commenced 
his career as an Episcopal clergyman in his native city, in 1772. 
He was a zealous supporter of the Revolution, and fled to Mary- 
land when the British occupied Philadelphia. He was chaplain 
to Congress from 1787 to 1801. Dr. White was made bishop of 
Pennsylvania in 1786 — one of the first three in America. 

ROBERT WHITEHILL, of Cumberland, but native in Lan- 
caster county, resided on a farm two miles west of Harrisburg. 
He was in public life for a long time, and made a brilliant and 
successful record. During a term as Senator of Pennsylvania, he 
was Speaker at the celebrated impeachment of the Supreme 
Court. He was elected to Congress in 1805, and served in that 
body till his death, in 1813. From 1774, when he served on the 
county committee, to the time of his death, he filled almost every 
position in the gift of the people. 

JAMES PYLE WICKERSHAM was born in Chester county, 
and began his career as an educator by teaching school at the age 
of sixteen. After equipping himself at the Unionville Academy, 
he took the principalship of the Marietta Academy, in Lancaster 
county. He was elected the first superintendent of schools in 
Lancaster county. To improve the teachers he held a "Teachers' 
Institute" at Millersville, and thus laid the foundation of the 
Normal School at that place — the first in the State — of which he 
became the principal. He served in this capacity for ten years, 
when Governor Curtin made him State Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools. He now had a wide field of usefulness, and he cul- 
tivated every part of it with s])londid i-esults during his fourteen 
years of office. Before his death, in 181)1, he wrote a History ot 



Biographical Sketches 337 

Education in Pennsylvania, which is a very valuable contribution 
to the history of the State. 

THOMAS WILLING was the business partner of Robert 
Morris. The firm was of great assistance to the Revolutionary 
cause in supplying stores and funds. Mr. Willing was mayor of 
Philadelphia, Judge of the Supreme Court, president of the Pro- 
vincial Congress of 1774, and became a member of the Conti- 
nental Congress in 1775. He voted against the Declaration of 
Independence on the ground that it was not the time for such a 
step. 

DAVID WILMOT, of Bradford county, was born in 1814, and 
educated at an academy. He began the practice of law at Wilkes - 
Barre but soon afterwards settled in Towanda. He became a 
prominent Democratic politician and served in Congress from 
1845-51. He was the author of the "Wilmot proviso," providing 
that slavery be excluded from territory to be purchased from 
Mexico in 1846. It passed the House, but not the Senate. For 
several years the "Wilmot proviso" was brought up and debated 
when new territories were to be organized. After serving as 
president judge in the Bradford district, he became United States 
Senator in 1861. Two years later, he was made Judge of the 
United States Court of Claims. He died at Towanda in 1868, and 
the famous "proviso" is inscribed on his tombstone. 

JAMES WILSON was a Scotchman, educated at Glasgow, 
St. Andrew's and Edinburgh Universities. He emigrated to 
America, and, after practicing law at Reading, appeared in public 
life as a delegate from Cumberland county to the convention that 
met in Philadelphia to concert measures preparatory to the First 
Continental Congress. He retained his residence in Carlisle till 
1777, when he removed to Annapolis, Maryland, and the next year 
finally settled in Philadelphia. He was prominent in the discus- 
sions preceding the Revolution, was several times a delegate in 
Congress, and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence who also sat in the Constitutional Convention, in 1787. 
In 1789 he was appointed one of the first associate justices of 
the Supreme Court, and was at the same time a law professor in 
the University of Pennsylvania. Wilson's fame rests chiefly in 
the fact that of the fifty -five delegates to the Constitutional Con- 
vention, he was the best prepared, by his knowledge of history 
and the science of government, for the work that was to be done. 
None spoke more to the point and none, excepting Gouverneur 
Morris and Madison, was so often on his feet. He died in North 
Carolina while on his judicial circuit, and was buried there. 

ALEXANDER WILSON was a Scotchman, who came to this 
country in 1794 with a few borrowed shillings and no acquain- 
tances. He worked at first with a copper -plate printer, then with 
a weaver, in Philadelphia. He followed teaching next, and, while 
he taught a school near Darby, Delaware county (seepage 282), 



338 A History of Pennsylvania 

became acquainted with the famous naturalist, William Bartram, 
who, by his own love of birds, deeply interested the young man 
in that branch of nature. Wilson resolved to make a collection 
of all the birds of America. He set out on his first expedition 
in 1804, He studied drawing and etching, and prevailed upon 
a Philadelphia publisher to undertake an American Ornithology, 
of which there are nine volumes. He traveled extensively in 
the United States, collecting specimens, for nearly a decade. 
In his eagerness to get a rare bird, he swam across a river 
and caught cold, which ended in his death, at Philadelphia, in 
1813. Wilson was also a poet. He gave us a beautiful glimpse 
into his life at Darby in his poem — "The Solitary Tutor." 

DAVID ZEISBERGER was a Moravian missionary, who emi- 
grated to Georgia from Moravia, in the Austrian empire. He 
came to Pennsylvania to assist in the building of Bethlehem and 
Nazareth. He studied the Delaware language at Bethlehem, and 
went among the Five Nations to acquire the use of theirs. He 
not only did missionary work among Pennsylvania Indians, but 
among those of New England and the South. When the various 
tribes had been driven to Canada and beyond the Ohio, Zeisberger 
followed even thither. He died in Goshen, Ohio, a town which 
he founded. He published Indian school books of various kinds, 
and left a diary extending over the years from 1781 to 1798. 

COUNT VON ZINZENDORF, founder of the Moravian colony 
at Bethlehem, was born at Dresden, Germany, in 1700, educated at 
Halle, and after traveling for a time as a religious reformer, was 
appointed a member of the Saxon state council. But political life 
was not to his taste, and he became interested in the Moravian 
brethren, among whom he was ordained a bishop. When he had 
planted the settlements in America and organized a number of 
missionary stntions among the Indians, he returned to "Herrnhut," 
his estate in Saxony, where he died. 



APPENDIX 

Principal Officers of the United States Government from Pennsyl- 
- vania, 1783 to 1897 



Name 



Date of ap- 
pointment 



Born 



Died 



Presidents 
Prior to the adoption of the ConstitutiQn 



Thomas Mifflin.. 
Arthur St. Clair. 



Nov. 3.1783 
Feb. 2,1787 



1744 
1734 



1818 



President 
Under the Constitution 

James Buchanan 

Vice President 

George M. Dallas , 

Secretaries of State 

Timothy Pickering 

James Buchanan 

Jeremiah S. Black 

Secretaries of the Treasury 

Albert Gallatin 

Alexander J. Dallas 

Richard Rush 

Samuel D. Ingham 

William J. Duane 

Walter Forward 

William M, Meredith 

Secretaries of War 

Timothy Pickering , 

James M. Porter 

William Wilkins . ^.^ r 

Simon Cameron . ; 

Edwin M. Stanton 

J. Donald Cameron 

Secretaries of the Navy 

William Jones 

Adolph E. Borie 

Secretary op the Interior 
T. M. T McKennan 

(339) 



Term of 
Service 



Born 



Died 



1857-1861 



1845-1849 



1795-1800 
1845-1849 
1860-1861 



1801-1814 
1814-1817 
1825-1829 
1829-1831 
1833 
1841-1843 
1849-1850 



1795 
1843-1844 

1844-1845 
1861-1862 
1862-1868 
1876-1877 



1791 
1792 



1745 
1791 
1810 



1761 
1759 
1780 
1773 
1780 
1786 
1799 



1745 
1793 
1779 
1799 
1814 
1833 



1760 

1809 



1794 



1868 

1864 

1829 
1868 
1883 



1849 
1817 
1859 
1860 
1865 
1852 
1873 



1829 
1862 
1865 
1889 
1870 



1831 



1852 



340 Aj)pendix 

Principal Officers of the United States Government— continued 



Name 



Postmasters Genekal. 

Timothy Pickering 

James Campbell 

John Wanamaker 

Charles Emory Smith 

Attorneys General 

William Bradford 

Richard Rush 

Henry D. Gilpin 

Jeremiah S. Black 

Edwin"*!SI. Stanton 

Wayne MacVeagh 

Benjamin H. Brewster 

Associate Justices op the Supreme Court 

James Wilson 

Henry Baldwin 

Robert C. Grier 

William Strong 

George Shiras, Jr 

Presidents pro tem. of the Senate 

William Bingham 

James Ross 

Andrew Gregg 

Speakers House of Representatives 

F. A. Muhlenberg 

F. A. Muhlenberg 

Galusha A. Grow 

Samuel J. Randall 



Term of 
Service 


Born 


1791-1795 


1745 


1853-1857 


1812 


1889-1893 


1838 


1898 


1842 


1794-1795 


1755 


1814-1817 


1780 


1840-1841 


1801 


1857-1880 


1810 


1860-1861 


1814 


1881 


1833 


1881-1885 


1816 


1789-1798 


1742 


1830-1846 


1770 


1846-1870 


1794 


1870-1880 


1808 


1892 


1832 


1797 


1729 


1797-1799 


1761 


1809 


1755 


1789-1791 


1750 


1793-1795 


1750 


1861-1863 


1823 


1876-1881 


1828 



1829 



1795 
1850 
1860 
1883 
1869 

1888 



1798 
1846 
1870 
1895 



1808 
1847 
1835 



1801 
1801 



1890 



Senators 



William Maelay 1789-1871 

Robert Morris 1789-1795 

Albert Gallatin 1793-1794 

James Ross 1794-1803 

William Bingham 1705-1801 

John P. G. Muhlenberg 1801 

George Logan 1801-1807 

Samuel Maelay 1803-1808 

Andrew Gregg 1807-1813 

Michael Leib 1808-1814 

Al)ner Leacock 1813-1819 

Jonathan Roberts 1814-1821 

Walter Lowrie 181!)-1825 

William Findlay 1821-1827 

William Marks 182.5-1831 

Isaac D. Barnhard 1827-1831 

George Mifflin Dallas 1831-1833 

William Wilkins 1831-1834 



Samuel McKean 1833-1839 

James Buchanan 1834-1 845 

Daniel Sturgeon 1839-1851 

Simon Cameron 1845-1849 

James Cooper 1849-1855 

Richard Brodhead 1851-1857 

William Bigler 1855-1861 

Simon Cameron 1857-1861 

David Wilmot 1861-1863 

Edward Cowan 1861-1867 

Charles R. Buckalew 1863-1869 

Simon Cameron 1867-1877 

John Scott 1869-1875 

William A. Wallace 1875-1881 

J. Donald Cameron 1877-1897 

John I. Mitchell 1881-1887 

Matthew Stanley Quay 1887-1899 

Boise Penrosd 1897- 



INDEX 



Adams county,232. See also Gettysburg. 

Adolphus, Gustavus, 17. 

Agriculture, 250, 276 ; department of, 
246. 

Albany, Congress, 125 ; purchase, 66, 
128. 

Algonquins, 1. 

Allegewi Indians, 2. 

Allegheny, valley, 64, 93, 124; county, 
85, 185; city, 268, 308. 

Aliens, the, 167, 303. 

AUentown, 45, 60, 159, 219, 268. 

Allman, Jerome T., 246. 

Amendment, of Frame of Government. 
101, 102; of Federal constitution, 182; 
of State constitutron, 241. 

American Philosophical Society, 326. 

Andastes, 3. 

Arbor Day, 240. 

Armstrong, John, 88, 131, 161, 303; 
"Captain Jack," 75, 127, 303; Thomas 
A., 239; county, 89, 267, 273. 

Army, Washington's, troops for, 150; 
retreat of, to Pennsylvania in 1776, 
154 ; crossing the Delaware, 155 ; 
comes to Pennsylvania in 1777, 156; 
at Valley For^e, 163 ; leaves Valley 
Forge, 167; at Morristown, N. J., 173; 
marches through Pennsylvania in 
1781, 174. 

Assembly, General, first, 28, 30, 100, 
101; second, 102; powers of , enlarged, 
104; first struggle for rights, 112 ; sent 
home, 113 ; scruples aboiit war, 115, 
121, 130; gets right to adjourn at will, 
115 ; holds back Governor's salary, 
123 ; assists in King George's war, 
123 ; disputes with Proprietary, 124; 
asked to build a fort on the Ohio, 125; 
contends for the right to apply taxes 
for the King's use, 126; and Governor 
Morris, 129; aids freely in the French 
war, 134; petitions King for change 
of government, 138 ; accepts acts of 
First Continental Congress, 148 ; in- 
structs delegates in Second Continen- 
tal Congress, 149 ; receives instruc- 
tions, 151 ; the Proprietary dies, 107, 

152r. 

Associators, 123, 149. 
Audubon, James, 253, 304. 
Aughwick, 74. 

Bache, Benjamin F., 253, 304. 
Baldwin, Henry, 340. 
Ballot Reform, 244. 



Baltimore, Lord, 16. 

Bangor, 275. 

Banks, the first bank in Pennsylvania 

and America, 173, 252; the bank of 

North America, 175; State, 184, 192, 

200, 206, 214, 246; the United States 

bank, 184, 192. 
Baptists, 279. 
Barnes, J. Mahlon, 249. 
Barnhard, Isaac D., 340. 
Bartram, John, 36, 253, 304. 
"Battle of the Kegs," 162. 
Beaver, James A., 239, 241, 244, 301; 

county, 89. 
Bedford, town, 75, 76, 133, 136, 255; 
• county, 170, 211, 232. 
Beisel, Conrad, 47. 

Bellefonte, 195, 299, 302. [317. 

Berks county, 150, 188, 266, 274, 296, 297, 
Bethlehem, 46, 129, 130, 159, 266, 269, 

280, 339. 
Bicentennial, 238. 
Biddle, Edward, 146, 148, 304; Nicholas, 

151, 304; James, 194, 305. 
Bigler, William, 212, 298, 340. 
"Big Runaway," 170. 
Bingham, William, 340. 
Birmingham, 33, 158. 
Black, Chauncey F., 241; Jeremiah S., 

305, 339, 340. 
"Black Friday," 308. 
Blackwell, John, 112, 290. 
Bloomsburg, 72. 
Boone, Daniel, 318. ^ 

"Border counties," 232. 
Borie, Adolph E., 339. 
Bouquet, Colonel, 76, 82, 133, 135-138. 
Brackenridge, Hugh, 185, 186, 190, 306. 
Braddock, town, 268. 
Braddock's campaign, 127-128 ; road, 

75; grave, 85. 
Bradford, William, 35, 42, 305; Andrew, 

252, 293, 305; William, 340; county, 

69, 337. 
Brady, Captain Samuel, 88, 305. 
Brandywine, 33, 151-159. 
Brewster, Benjamin H., 340. 
Bridges, 257. 
Bristol, 23, 33, 39. 
Brown, Charles Brockden, 253, 306 ; 

John, 215; the schoolmaster, 76. 
Brown-stone, 275. 
Bryan, George, 167, 171, 293. 
Bryn Mawr, 52. 
Buchanan, James, 215, 216, 300, 305, 306, 

339, 340. 



(341) 



342 



Index 



Bucks county, 30, 62, 129, 154, 211, 257, 

276, 333. 
Buckalew, Charles R., 233, 340. 
"Buckshot war," 205, 206. 
"Burnt Cabins," 74. 
Burrowes, Thomas H., 204, 307. 
Bushy run, 82, 136. 
Butler, Zebulon, 67, 168, 307; county, 89, 

273. 
Bybei-ry, 33. 

Cadwalader, John, 155, 307. 

Cambria county, 88. 

Cameron, Simon, 219, 307, 329, 339, 340; 
J. Donald, 339, 340. 

Camp Curtin, 219, 221. 

Campbell, James, 340. 

Canals, 91, 197, 199, 200, 212, 213, 214, 
256, 261, 263, 268; commissioners, 200. 

Capital, State, 187, 195. 

Capitol, 196, 246, 247. 

Carbon county, 62, 264. 

Carlisle, 60, 74, 76, 136, 175, 182, 184, 188, 
195, 206, 222, 223, 232, 254, 255, 262, 337. 

Carnegie, Andrew, 245, 308. 

Carpenters' HaU, 107, 146, 147, 184. 

Catholics, 279. 

Centennial Exhibition, 234-236. 

Centre county, 209, 302. 

Chambersburg, 76, 221, 222, 224, 230, 
318. 

Charter, Penn's, 97; of Privileges, 104, 
279. 

Chase, S. B., 233. 

Cheat river, 82. 

Cherry Tree, 88. 

Chester, town, 28, 33, 39, 258, 269, 321, 
326; county, 30; Welsh and Scotch- 
Irish in, 53, &4; 207, 266, 275, 276, 279, 
317 325. 

Chestnut Ridge, 331. 

Chevaux-de-frize, 150, 162, 175. 

Chew mansion, 161. 

Christ Church, 36-38, 279. 

Christiana, 211. 

Clarion county, 273. 

Clearfield county, 88, 298. 

Clymer, George, 106, 151, 154, 178, 180, 
309, 320; Hiester, 232. 

Coal, 91, 92, 261-264. 

Coat of Arms, 100. 

Colgrove, 274. 

Colonial government, 96. 

Columbia, 195, 197, 210, 260, 329. 

Commerce, 117, 250-252. 

"Common Sense," 151. 

Concord, The, 40. 

Conemaugh creek, 261. 

Conestoga, wagons, 255, 262 ; Indians, 

* 4, 55, 56. 

Congress, Continental, First, 146; Sec- 
ond, 148, 154, 159, 167, 175. 

Connecticut, claim of, 64; di-spute with 
settled. 68. 

Connelly, Dr. John. 83. 

Conococheague, 74, 75. 



Constitution, of 1776, 107, 108; average 

life of an American, 108; of 1790. 

109; of 1838, 109,110, 205; of 1873, 

111; Federal, 178-182. 
Conway Cabal, 164, 307. 
Cooke, Jay, 233, 308. 
Cooper, James, 340. 
Copper, 275. 
Corbin, Margaret, 308. 
Cornplanter, 86. 
Corry, 93. 
Council of Censors, 108, 109, 176; of 

Safety, 106. 107, 151, 1.54, 155. 
County, Act, "the great new," 89; map, 

present, 65; of 1800, 89. 
Cowan, Edgar, 340. 
Coxe, Tench, 265, 308. 
Cramp, William, 269, 309. 
Crawford county, 89. 
Cresap, Thomas, 79. 
Croghan, George, 127. 
Cumberland, valley, 45, 54,223; county. 

127, 129, 136, 211, 267, 297, 324. 
Curtin, Andrew G., 216, 217, 218, 219, 

223, 229, 231, 299, 329. 

Dallas, George M., 309, 339, 340; Alex- 
ander M., 339. 

Danville, 269. 

Darby, 279, 339. [283, 322. 

Dauphin county, 54. 180, 196, 275, 276, 

Decatur, Stephen, 194, 309. 

Declaration of Independence, 152-154: 
the signers from Pennsylvania, 154; 
of Rights, 108, 109. 

Delamater, George W., 244. 

Delaware, State, first settlement in, 16; 
called the "three lower counties," 19; 
forms a separate council, 112; gets a 
separate Assembly, 113: bay, dis- 
covery of, 14; Indians, 1-3, 4-5, 63. 
134; Lord, 14; river, first settlement 
on, 15; coimty, 21, 259. 

Denning, William, 267. 

Denny, William, 132. 292. 

Dickinson, John, 106, 138. 140; as the 

"Pennsylvania Farmer." 141. 144, 145; 
in Congress, 146, 148, L52, 1.53, 154: 
as President, 175; in Constitutional 
Convention of 1787, 178; sketch of. 
294. 

Dill, Andrew H., 237. 

Dobbins, Daniel, 193. 

Dock, Christopher, 280. 

Doylestown, 308. 

Drafts, 221. 

Drake, E. L.,273. [339. 

Duane, William, 253, 310; William J., 

Du Bois, 95. 

Duche, Rev. Jacob, 37,146. 107, 310. 

Duke of York. 19. 

Duncansville. 329. 

Dutch, settlements on the Delaware. 14- 
17; claim, 16; settle on Minisink 
Flats. 17; rule, 19 ; West India Com- 
pany, 15. 



Index 



343 



Easton, 45, 60, 64, 159. 269, 270, 296, 333. 

Education (see also Schools), 30, 190, 
199, 200, 201; foundations of, laid, 277; 
in constitutions of 1776 and 1790, 281; 
in the charter, 282 ; charitable and 
penal, 285 ; compulsory, 285 ; higher, 
286, 287. 

Elder, Rev. John, 55, 310. 

English, first settlement of, in Pennsyl- 
vania, 21; immigrants, 91, 92. 

Ephrata, 47, 159, 280. 

Episcopalians, 36-39. 

Erie, town, 87, 88, 193, 211, 269; county, 
89; Indians, 7. 

Evans, John, 114, 290; Oliver, 258, 310. 

Ewing, James, 155, 311. 

"Fair Play" men, 72. 

Falls of Trenton, 33. 

Fayette county, 85, 185, 312. 

Fenno, John, 253, 311. 

Findlay, William, 196, 198, 199, 296, 340. 

Findley, William, 181, 185, 281, 311. 

« First Defenders , " 218. 

Fitch, John, 178, 257, 311. 

Fitz Simons, Thomas, 178, 311. 

Five Nations, 1, 6. 

Flag, provincial, 123 ; Betsy Ross, 157, 
327; Pennsylvania battle, 231. 

"Flat Iron," 81. 

Fletcher, Governor, 103, 113. 

Floods of 1889, 242, 302. 

Forbes, General, 38, 132-134 ; road, 75, 
82 

Forney, John W., 215, 311. 

Forest county, 89. 

Fort Allen, 130; Augusta, 71, 73, 130 
Casimer, 18 ; Christina, 19 ; Du 
quesne, 81, 125, 133; Granville, 75 
Greenville, Indian treaty of, 86 
Le Boeuf, 81, 125; Ligonier, 136 
Loudon, 75, 127; Machault, 125; Mc 
Intosh, 9 ; Mercer, 162 ; Miflflin, 162 
Nassau, 15, 18; Necessity, 85, 125 
Pitt, 76, 81, 83, 85, 137, 170;~Presque 
Isle, 87, 88, 125, 335; Shirley, 131, 135 
Ft. Stanwix, Indian purchase at, 67, 
71, 82; Washington, 308. 

"Forty Fort," 67, 169. 
Forward, Walter, 339. 

Foster, Henry D., 216. 

Fox, George, 25, 39. 

Frame of Government, 98-104. 

Franklin, Benjamin, in colonial his- 
tory, 37, 38, 84; 105, 106, 107, 122, 123, 
124, 126, 127, 130; in England, 134, 139, 
140; in Congress, 148, 149, 152, 153, 
154; in France, 155, 167; as President, 
177, 178, 181, 182; 252, 286; sketch of, 
292. 
Franklin, town, 93; county, 180, 221, 

222, 232, 306, 328. 
French, erect forts, 125. 
Friends. See Quakers. 
Fries' Rebellion, 188. 
Frontier forts, 130. 



Fulton, Robert, 257, 258, 312, 322; 

county, 222, 232. 
Furly, Benjamin, 102. 
Furnaces, 266-268. 

Gallatin, Albert, 185, 312, 339, 340. 

Galloway, Joseph, 138, 146, 148, 167, 313. 

Geary, John W., 228, 232, 300. 

Germans, 39-53; called Palatines, 44; 
where from, 44; great numbers of, 
45; education of, 49; occupation, lan- 
guage, and position in the State, 50, 
51, 207 ; as frontiersmen, 54, 59 ; in 
Juniata valley, 74, 76 ; in York 
county, 74; in southwestern Pennsyl- 
vania, 85 ; naturalization of, 116; 
immigration of, checked, 118. 

German sects, 48, 167. 

Germantown, settled, 39-43, 159 ; bat- 
tle of, 160-161; 266, 279; academy, 43. 

Gettysburg, battle of, 223-230; painting 
of battle of, 327 ; Thaddeus Stevens 
settles in, 331. 

Gill, John D., 244. 

Gilpin, Henry D., 340. 

Ginter, Philip, 262, 263. 

Girard, Stephen, 252, 313; college, 287. 

Gist, Christopher, 81. 

Golden Book of Queen Anne, 44. 

Gookin, Charles, 115, 290. 

Gordon, Patrick, 118, 290. 

Governor, of Province, treble vote and 
veto of, 102; of State, 109, 110, 208. 

Gray's ferry, 183, 304. 

Great Meadows, 85. 

Gregg, Andrew, 199, 340; David M., 229, 
313. 

Greencastle, 222. 

Green county, 273. 

Grier, Robert C, 340. 

Grow, Galusha, 313, 340. 

Grundy, Thomas H., 246. 

"Hail Columbia," 187, 315. 

Hamilton, Andrew, 104, 290 ; James, 

134, 142, 292. 
Hancock, Winfield S., 225, 227, 229, 314. 
Hannastown, 82, 83. 
Hanover, 224. 
Harris, John, 4, 314 ; John, Jr., 55, 71, 

187, 195, 314. 
Harrisburg, 60, 171, 182, 185, ]95, 197, 

209, 217, 219, 223, 224, 237, 246, 282. 
Hartman, Mrs., 138. 
Hartranft, John F., 233, 236, 301. 
Hastings, Daniel H., 246, 248. 
Haverford, 316. 
Hawley, Charles I., 246. 
Hayes, Dr. I. I., 317. 
Hazleton, 248. 
Hazlewood, John, 162, 314. 
Heckewelder, 8, 47, 315. 
Hendrickson, Captain, 15. 
Hiester, Joseph, 196, 198, 296. 
Hollidaysburg, 261. 
Homestead, 95, 245, 268. 



344 



Index 



Honesdale, 259. 

Hopkinson, Francis, 37, 163, 315; 

Joseph, 187, 315. 
"Hot Water Rebellion," 188. 
House of Representatives, 109, 205. 
Hoiiston, Robert J., 2il. 
Hovenden, Thomas, 254, 315. 
Hoyt, Henry M., 237, 238, 239, 301. 
Hudson, Henry, 10, 14. 
Huguenots, 57, 58. 
Hummelstown, 275. 
Humphreys, Charles, 146, 148, 152, 153, 

154, 316; Samuel, 269, 316. 
Hungarians, 94. 
Huntingdon, town, 75, 287, 303 ; county, 

222. 

Impeachment, of Logan, 114 ; of Su- 
preme Court Justices, 190. 

Independence HaU, 119-121, 198, 246, 
303. 

Indiana county, 88. 

"Indian country," 86, 89. 

Indian purchases, map of, 6 ; first, 26, 
63; of 1736 and 1758, 60 ; of 1686, 61; 
of 1754, 66, 74, 75, 76 ; of 1768, 67, 71, 

72, 76, 83, 88 ; of 1749, 70 ; of 1784, 

73, 86. 

Indians, tribes of, in Pennsylvania, 1- 
8 ; character and life, 8-14 ; treaties, 
11 ; threaten Pennsylvania, 122 ; 
show hostility, 123. 

Ingham, Samuel D., 339. 

Ingersoll, Jared, 178, 316. 

Internal Impro^^nents, 110, 177, 183, 
192, 196, 199, 200, 201, 204, 212, 213, 
214, 256, 264. 

Inventions, 177. 

Irish, 91, 92. 

Iron, 91, 92, 254, 266-268. 

Iroquois, 1, 4, 5, 317, 329. 

Irvine, William, 38, 185, 316. 

Jack's Narrows, 75. 

Jacobs, Captain, 131. 

Jay's Treaty, 187. 

Jenks, George A., 249. 

Johnston, William F., 210, 212, 298. 

Johnstown, 95, 242-244, 269. 

Jones, WiUiam, 3.39. 

Judiciary, 109, 110, 115. 190, 247. 

Juniata valley, 6, 45, 64, 74-77. 

Kane, Dr. Elisha K., 214, 316. 

Keitli, Sir William, 29, 110, 290; 

George, 53, 103. 
Kelley, John, 1.55, 317. 
Kennett, 33, 157, 332. 
Kingston, 66, 169. 
Kiskiminitas, 82. 
Kittanning, 75, 88, 131. 
Kittatiniiy valley, 59. 
Kyashuta, 85, 317. 

Lackawanna ooiinty, 264. 
Lafayette, 157, 159. 



Lancaster, town, 39, 45, 159, 175, 176, 
188, 195, 266, 283, 295, 307, 326, 331; 
county, 54, 76, 78, 127, 129, 136, 211, 
255, 267, 275, 276, 311, 317. 

Lancaster, Joseph, 283. 

Lands, classes of, 60 ; Penn's policy re- 
specting, 60; State gets common, 61. 

Lane, Franklin H., 237. 

Lattimer, 248. 

Laurel Hill, 83, 128. 

Law, the Great, 101. 

Lawrence county, 89. 

Lawreneeville, 217. 

Laws, to be approved by Crown, 97, 115; 
to be explained by agent in London, 
97, 118 ; test, 177 ; British in Pennsyl- 
vania, 191. 

Leacock, Abner, 340. 

Lebanon, 45, 60; county, 266. 

Legislature, 109, 110, 111 ; and the em- 
bargo, 191; grants charters, 199; 
creates canal commissioners, 200 ; es- 
tablishes free schools. 202-204 ; sells 
public works, 213 ; extra session of, 
240; expands public service, 246; sits 
in a church, 247. 

Lehigh, valley,'45, 92 ; county, 188, 274, 
275. 

Leib, Michael, 340. 

Leiper, Thomas, 259. 

Lenni-Lenape Indians, 1-3. 

Lewisburg, 317. 

LewistoNATi, 75, 219, 318. 

Liberty Bell, 120, 153, 158, 246, 322. 

Library, State, 246; Philadelphia, 291. 

Lieutenant-governor, 111. 

Ligonier valley, 82. 

Lincoln, President Abraham, secret 
ride of, 217— at Gettysburg, 230— an- 
cestry of, 317— and McClure, 318— and 
Thomas Scott, 329 ; Abraham, 181, 
317; Mordeeai, 318. 

Literature, 252-254. 

Lititz, 280. 

Lloyd, Thomas, 112, 113, 290. 

Lock Hav-en, 72. 92, 270. 

Logan, James, 44, 104, 114, 115, 118, 121, 
123, 125, 291, 304 ; George, 340 ; the 
Mingo Chief, 75, 318. 

Log College, 54, 287, 333. 

Lowrie, Walter, 340. 

Loyallianna, 133. 

Lumbering, 92, 209-271. 

Lutherans, 48, 49, 321 . 

Luzerne county, 69, 249, 264, 301. 

Lycoming county, 73. 

MacVeagh, Wajnie, 340. 

McCall, George A., 220, 3l8. 

McCl.iv, William, 195, 340; Samuel, 340. 

Mci'lellan, (ieor-c B., 319. 330. 

McClure, Aloxjiiidcr K., 218, 318. 

MfCoiuu'llshnrg, 222. 

McKo;m, Tliomas, 181. 182, 185, 189, 190, 

191, 2S1, 295: Samuel, 340. 
McKean county, 273, 274. 



Index 



345 



McKeesport, 95, 268. 

McKeunan, T. M. T., 339. 

Magazines, 253, 306, 328. 

Mahoning creek, 89. 

Manheim, 332. 

Manufaetnring, 41, 42, 91, 264-269, 309. 

Marcus Hook, 33, 194. 

Markham, William, 26, 28, 101, 103, 112, 
289. 

Marks, William, 340. 

Maryland, 77-81. 

Mason and Dixon's Line, 80, 84, 220, 222. 

Mason, Samuel R., 237. 

Mauch Chunk, 92, 259, 262, 267. 

Meade, George G., 220, 224, 225, 228, 319. 

Media, 287. 

Mennonites, 39-42, 48, 280. 

Mercer county, 89. 

Mereersburg, 2.54, 296, 306. 

Meredith, William M., 319, 339 ; Sam- 
uel, 320. 

Mey, Captain, 15, 16. 

Middletown, 170. 

Mifflin, Thomas, 144, 146, 148, 178, 181, 
182, 183, 186, 187, 189, 295, 339. 

Militia, 116, 121, 130, 154, 161, 171. 

Miller, Peter, 47. 

Milton, 95, 299, 329. 

Minisink Flats, 3, 16, 62, 63, 69, 334. 

Minuit, Peter, 17. 

Mischianza, 165. 

Mitchell, John I., 340. 

Monastery, Wissahickon, 43. 

Monongahela valley, 222, 254, 267. 

Monroe county, 62. 

Monsey Indians, 2. 

Montgomery county, 31, 48, 52, 188, 211, 
266, 279, 297. 

Montour, Madame, 329 ; Roland and 
Andrew, 329. 

Moore, William, 175, 294. 

Moorewood, 245. 

Moravians, 46, 69, 159, 280, 282, 315. 

More, Dr. Nicholas, 101. 

Morganza, 287. 

Morris, Robert Himter, 126, 129, 130, 
131, 132, 292; Robert, 38, 106, 126, 152, 
153, 154, 155, 171, 173, 175, 178, 181, 251, 
320, 327, 340; Gouverneur, 178, 327. 

Morrisville, 309. 

Morton, John, 146, 148, 152, 153, 154, 320. 

Mott, Lucretia, 215, 321. 

Mt. Carmel, 95. 

Mt. Union, 222. 

Muhlenberg, Rev. Henry M., 48, 321 ; 
Frederick A., 48, 109, 176, 181, 322, 340; 
John P. G., 48, 321, 340 ; Gotthilf, 48, 
322; Rev. H. A., 204. 

Muncy, 72. 

Murray, Lindley, 284, 322. 

Mutiny, of Pennsylvania Line, 173. 

NanticDke town, 95; Indians, 4. 
National Cemetery, 230. 
National Guard, 238. • 
Natural Gas, 240, 268. 



Navy, State and Continental, 106, 150, 

151, 162, 270, 314. 
Nazareth, 46, 129, 280, 339. 
Neshaminy creek, 26, 257. 
Neville, John, 185, 322. 
New Castle, 269. 
New Geneva, 312. 
New Gottenberg, 18. 
New Hanover, 48, 321. 
New Netherlands, 15, 19. 
Newspapers, first in Pennsylvania, 35; 

first German in Pennsylvania, 43; 

252, 298, 304, 305, 310, 311, 318. 
Newville, 267. 
Nickel, 275. 

Norris, Isaac, 138, 322. 
Norristown, 163, 297, 301, 314, 315. 
Northampton county, 62, 129, 130, 188, 

274. 
Northumberland, town, 71, 195, 325; 

county, 73, 170, 264. 

Oaths, of Quakers, 114, 115, 116 ; of 

allegiance, 177. 
Office-holders, qualifications of, in 

1790 ; made elective, 110. 
Ogontz, 308. 
Ohio valley, 64, 124. 
Oil City, 93, 273. ' 
Ord, O. E. C, 220. 
Orwigsburg, 69. 
Oxenstiern, 17. 
Oxford, 287. 

Packer, William F., 214," 215, 216, 299. 

Paine, Thomas, 151, 253, 323. 

Palatinate, 44. 

Palmer, Anthony, 123, 291. 

Panics, 214, 233. 

Paoli, 159. 

Paper money, 110, 117, 118, 125, 170, 173, 
204. 

Parker city, 93. 

Parnell, Charles Stewart, 331. 

Parties, political, 187, 191, 196, 198, 200, 
204, 205, 208, 210, 213, 214, 216, 233, 237, 
239, 241, 244, 246, 323. 

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 40, 279, 323. 

Patterson, Robert, 206, 208, 323. 

Pattison, Robert E., 239, 240, 241, 244, 
245, 301. 

Paxtang, "Boys," 55-56 ; township, 70, 
171, 310. 

Peale, Charles, 323 ; Rembrandt, 254, 
323. 

Peale's Museum, 2.53. 

Pen Argyl, 275. 

Penn, William, 10, 11, 12 ; and the 
Jerseys, 22 ; motive of, 22 ; condi- 
tions favoring his colony, 23 ; his 
charter, 24 ; ai'rival in Pennsylvania, 
27 ; his ti-eaty, 3, 8, 28 ; his mansion, 
29 ; his first departure, 33 ; his re- 
turn, final departure, and death, 34, 
103 ; and the Germans, 39 ; his ideas 
of goverament, 98-100, 101 ; offers to 



346 



Index 



sell his province, 105; his successors, 
105 ; his rule ends, 116 ; remains of, 
238 ; his views on education, 277 ; 
sketch of. 289. 

Penn, John, son of William, 38, 105, 
121. 

Penn, Richard, son of William, 105, 
121. 

Penn, Thomas, son of William, 105, 
121. 

Penn, John, grandson of William, 106, 
138, 142, 148, 156, 292. 

Penn, Richard, grandson of William, 
142, 292. 

Penn, Mrs. WiUiam, 105, 116, 121. 

Pennamite and Yankee war, 67-69. 

Penrose, Boies, 340. 

Peunsbury, 22, 30, 33. 

Pennsylvania, name and extent, 25 ; 
first settlers, 26; present county map 
of, 65 — county map of 1800, 89 ; 
northern boundary, 87 ; population 
in 1790, 90 ; increase of population, 
90-95 ; form of government, 96 ; 
charter of, 97 ; Frame of Govern- 
ment, 98-100; new frame, 100 ; under 
the Crown, 103 ; a State, 106 ; atti- 
tude towards British oppression, 
143-145 ; furnishes riflemen for Con- 
tinental Army, 149 : votes for inde- 
pendence, 153 ; government moves 
to Lancaster, 159, and returns to 
Philadelphia, 167 ; suffers from paper 
money, 171 ; share in the Revolution, 
175 ; ratifies Federal Constitution, 
180-182 ; sides with France, 187 ; 
supports embargo, 191 ; feeds Union 
soldiers, 220: invaded by Lee, 222; 
the "Kej'stone" State, 288. 

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 
254. 

Pennsylvania Reserves, 220, 229, 231. 

Pequea, 39. 

Perkiomen, 39, 163, 304. 

Perrj' county, 232, 302. 

Perry's Fleet, 193. 

Peters, Richard, 124. 

Petroleum, 93, 271-274. 

Pettit, Alfred C, 239. 

Philadelphia, Indian name, 12 ; county 
formed, 30 ; founded, 31-32 ; incor- 
porated, 104 ; Continental Congress 
meets in, 146, 149 ; occupied by the 
British, 161-167 ; mutinous soldiers 
in, 175 ; effects of Embargo on, 191; 
riots in, 207, 208 ; receives fugitive 
slaves, 211 ; John Brown's body in, 
215; southern medical .students leave, 
216; feeds soldiers of the Union, 220; 
builds City Hall, 234 ; sham medical 
colleges in, 238 ; the metropolis of 
America, 251 ; declines in commerce, 
252 ; seat of literature, 252 ; all the 
roads lead t6 it, 254, 256 ; and steam- 
boats, 258 ; first passenifrer train 
leaves, 259 ; becomes manufuct\iring 



city, 265; builds ships, 269—270 ; end 
of pipe line, 274 ; and schools, 278, 
282, 283. 

PhoenixviUe, 269. 

Pickering, Thomas, 69, 181, 281, 324, 339. 
340. 

Pietists, 42. 

Pike county, 62. 

"Pitcher," MoUie, 167, 324. 

Pithole City, 93. 

Pittsburg, founded, 82 ; manor of, 83; 
in 1790, 86; 185, 197, 216, 222, 236, 254. 
255, 256 ; and steamboats, 258, 269, 
270 ; and coal, 262; center of bitumi- 
nous coal field, 264— of iron industry, 
268— of oil trade, 274, 282, 287. 

Pleasant Mount, 320. 

Plunket, Dr. William, 72. 324. 

Plymouth, 67. 

Poles, 94. 

PoUoek, James, 213, 299. 

Pontiac's war, 55, 82, 135-138. 

Population, naovements of, 110 ; in- 
crease of, 90-95; 251. 

Portage Road, 261. 

Porter, 'DsxiA R., 205, 207, 208, 297; 
James M., 339. 

Post, Frederick, 133. 

Post office, first in Pennsylvania, 35. 

Potter county, 211. 

Pottstown, 95. 

Pottsville, 92, 219, 262, 267. 

Priestly, Dr. Joseph, 253, 325. 

Printing Press, first in Pennsylvania, 
35; first German in Pennsylvania, 43. 
328. 

Printz, Governor, 18. 

Proprietary, rights and rents, 60, 61, 
294; nature of, 96 ; dispute with As- 
sembly on Indian presents, 125; taxa- 
tion of estates of, 129, 134, 138. 

ProAincial Congi-ess, 145, 149. 

Pro\'incial Council, nature of, in 1682, 
100 ; changes in, 102. 

Quakers, 21, 22, 25, 29 ; characteristics 
of, 35; chief immigration of, 36; and 
the Mennonites, 39 ; and the Scotch- 
Irish, 54-56 ; non-resistance of, 113, 
167 ; Friendly Association of, 133; 
and schools. 36, 278, 282. 

Quakerto^vn. 211. 

Quay, Matthew S., 340. 

Quit-rents, 60, 105. 

Railroads, 91, 92, 209, 213, 258-264, 268, 

298, 311, 329. 
Randall, Samuel J., 325. 340. 
Raystown, 75. 1.33. 
Read, Thomas Buchanan, 2.56, 325. 
Reading, 45. 60, 175, 188, 195, 219, 237, 

266, .304, 331, 337. 
"Red Rose," 332. 
Rcdemptioners, 44, 122. 
Redstone creek-settlors of, 82. 
Reed, Joseph, 100, 144, 170, 173, 294. 



Index 



347 



Reformed, the, 48-49, 328. 

Revere, Paul, 144. 

Revolutionary period, 139-185. 

Reynolds, John F., 254, 327. 

Rhoads, Samuel, 146, 326. 

Ridley, 259, 320. 

Riots, race, 207, 211 ; political, 208 ; la- 
bor, 236, 238, 245. 

Ritner, Joseph, 200, 204, 205, 297. 

Rittenhouse, David, 84, 106, 151, 253, 
326. 

Rittinghuysen, William, 42. 

Roach, John, 269, 326. 

Roads, 254-257. 

Roberts, Jonathan, 340. 

Rodney, Caesar A. ,153 ; Caesar A. Jr. ,191. 

Ross, Betsy, 327 ; George, 106, 107, 146, 
148, 154, 326, 327; James, 340. 

Rothermel Peter F., 254, 327. 

Rush, Dr. Benjamin, 151, 154, 166, 181, 
328; Richard, 339, 340. 

Rynder, T. P., 244. 

St. David's church, 38. 

St. Clair, Arthur, 83, 330, 339. 

Saur, Christopher, 43, 252, 328. 

"Saw Dust War," 232. 

Schlatter, Rev. Michael, 48, 328. 

Schools (see also Education) for Ger- 
mans in English language, 49, 282; 
common, 202, 204, 212, 242, 282, 283, 
284, 331 ; William Penn Charter, 278; 
Soldiers' orphans', 231, 300; Reforma- 
tory, 238, 287 ; appropriation for com- 
mon, 242, 286 ; Friends' public gram- 
mar, 278; chtirch, 279; neighborhood, 
280 ; charity, 282 ; Indian, 282 ; col- 
ored, 282, 287 ; Lancasterian, 283 ; 
Normal, 285, 287 ; State and county 
superintendent of common, 285, 307; 
evening, 285; free text-books in com- 
mon, 285 ; money for common, 286; 
for the blind, deaf and dumb, and 
feeble-minded, 287. 

Schuylkill, river, 15, 197; valley, 45,69; 
county, 264. 

Schwenkf elders, 45, 280. 

Science and Art, 192, 252-254. 

Scotch, 91, 92. 

Scotch-Irish, 53-57 ; east of the moun- 
tains, 59 ; in Juniata valley, 74 ; in 
Cumberland valley, 74 ; west of the 
mountains, 82 ; in southwestern Penn- 
sylvania, 85 ; naturalization of, 116; 
and the Quakers, 118; and the Whisky 
Rebellion, 185 ; and education, 279; 
Mecca of, 310. 

Scott, Thomas A., 218, 231, 328 ; John, 
340. 

Scranton, 92, 233, 237, 263. 

Selinsgrove, 295. 

Senate, State, 109, 190. 

Seventh Day Baptists, 47, 280. 

Shamokin, (Sunbury), 5, 71, 130. 

Sharpsburg, 317. 

Shawanese Indians, 7, 134. 



" Sheridan's Ride," 325. 

Sherman's valley, 74. 

Shikellimy, 5, 51, 329. 

Shinplasters, 192. 

Shippen, Edward, 290. 

Shippensburg, 60, 76, 135, 222, 254, 255. 

Ship yards, 269, 309. 

Shiras, George, Jr., 340. 

Shulze, John A., 199, 296. 

Shunk, Francis R., 208, 209, 297. 

Sideling Hill, 80. 

Singerly, William H., 246. 

Sinking Spring valley, 76. 

Six Nations, 63, 64, 66, 125, 170. 

Skippack creek, 161. 

Slate, 274. 

Slatington, 275. 

Slavery, 35, 42, 171, 189, 207, 210, 215, 

216, 321. 
Slifer, Eli, 218. 
Smith, James, 154, 330 ; Dr. William, 

144, 253, 330; Charles Emory, 340. 
Snyder, Simon, 191, 192, 194, 295. 
Somerset county, 305. 
Sons of Liberty, 140. 
South Bethlehem, 95. 
Stamp Act, 139, 320. 
Standing Stone, 75, 89. 
Stanton. Edwin M., 217. 222, 330, 339, 

340. 
State Road, 85. 
Steamboats, 91, 178, 257, 310. 
Steelton, 95, 269. 
Steigel, Baron, 267. 
Stenton, 291. 

Stevens, Thaddeus, 203, 219, 331. 
Stewart, Charles, 194, 331; John, 239. 
Stone, William A., 249, 303. 
Strikes, 94, 233, 234, 236, 247, 248. 
Strong, William, 340. 
Strotidsburg, 170. 

Sturgeon, Daniel, 340. [111. 

Suffrage, in 1790 and 1838, 110; in 1873, 
Summit Hill, 263. 
Sunbury, town, 71, 72, 170, 195; Manor, 

61. 
" Sun Inn," 46, 189. 
Supreme Executive Council, 108, 109, 

155. 
Susquehanna, valley, 45, 64, 70, 128: 

river, 197; town, 233; county, 313. 
Susquehannock Indians, 3. 
Swaanendael, 16. 
Swallow, Silas C, 249. 
Swedish, West India Company, 17; 

first settlement, 17 ; authority ends, 

19 ; settlements, 19 ; foot-prints, 20- 

21; shipbuilding, 270; schools, 277. 

Tarentum, 95. 

Taxation, 113; of immigrants, 118; the 

right of, 126 ; of Proprietary estates, 

129, 134, 138; Parliamentary, 139, 141, 

142, 148; State, 206, 213. 
Taylor, Bayard, 36, 332; George, 154, 

333. 



348 



Index 



Tea Party, 142. 

Tedyiiscung, 63, 64, 66, 67, 333. 

Telegraph, 209. 

Telner, Jacob, 40. 

Temperance, 240, 328. 

Tennent, Rev. William, 287, 333. 

Thomas, George, 121, 291. 

Thompson, Col. William, 150. 

Thomson, Charles, 144, 333. 

TidioTite, 93. 

Tioga county, 303. 

Tioga Point, 197. 

Titusville, 93, 272. 

Tories, 145, 167, 177. 

Towanda, 301. 

Townsend, Richard, 33. 

Transportation, 254-264. 

Treaty Elm, 29. 

Triangle, the, 88. 

Tiilpehocken, 296, 335. 

Tankers, 43, 280. 

Turkey Indians, 2. 

Turnpikes, 183, 199, 255, 256, 257. 

Turtle Indians, 2. 

Tuscarora, Indians, 6; valley, 74. 

Underground Railroad, 210. 

Union county, 305. 

University of Pennsylvania, 282, 286, 

330. 
Unrest, the, 15. 
Upland, 26, 28, 101. 

Valley Forge, 160, 163-164, 170, 267. 
Van Campen, Moses, 72, 334. 
Venango county, 89. 
Virginia, claims of, 81 ; dispute with, 
83-85. 

Walking purchase, 61-63, 122, 128. 

Wallace, William A., 340. 

Wanamaker, John, 334, 340. 

War, King George's, 122, 123 ; French 
and Indian, 124-135 ; of the Revolu- 
tion, 146-176; of 1812, 192-194, 312, 
316 ; Mexican, 209 ; of the Union, 
216-231 ; Spanish, 248. 

Warren, town, 8«) ; county, 89, 273. 

Washington, George, 37, 81, 128, 154, 
182, 186, 317, 327 ; county, 85, 185, 273. 



Wayne, Anthony, 106, 158, 159, 161, 162, 

174, 181, 335 ; county, 320. 
Weiser, Coni-ad, 51, 71, 122, 123, 335. 
Welcome, The, 27, 238. 
Welsh, 52-53, 91, 92. 
West. Benjamin, 36, 254, 303, 324, 335. 
West Branch, 72, 197. 
West Chester, 211. 
Westinghouse, George, 268, 337. 
Westmoreland, township, 68 ; county, 

83, 170, 185, 298, 300. 
Wharton, Thomas, Jr., 155, 167, 293. 
Wliigs, 145, 167. [ 316. 

Whisky Insurrection, 184-186, 306, 312, 
White Marsh, 163. 
Wliite, Rev. William, 38, 336. 
Whitehill, Robert, 182, 336. 
Wieaco, 38. 

Wiekersham, James P., 284, 336. 
Wilkes-Barre, 66, 69, 92, 237, 263, 324. 
Wilkins, William, 339, 340. 
Wilkiusburg, 95. 

Williamsport, 73, 92, 232, 270, 299. 
Willing, Thomas, 149, 152, 153, 154, 337. 
Wilmot, David, 214, 337, 340. 
Wilson, James, 149, 152, 153, 154, 171, 

178, 181, 182, 337, 340; Alexander, 253. 

304, 338. 
Wolf Indians, 2. 
Wolf, George, 201, 202, 204, 296 ; 

Charles S., 241. 
Woman's Suffrage, 321. 
Womelsdorf, 332, 335. 
World's Fair, 246, 315. 
Wright, John, 78, 210. 
Wright's Ferry, 118, 255. 
Wrightsville, 224. 
Wynne, Dr. Thomas, 52. 
Wyoming valley, 66: first massacre, 67; 

the Massacre of, 168; 262, 263, 280, 

307, 324. 

Yellow Fever, 185, 328. 

York, town, 60, 159, 194, 223, 255, 267, 
275, 305, 330, 331 ; county and Mary- 
land dispute, 78; andBraddock's cam- 
paign, 127. 

Zeisberger, Da^^d, 89, 329, 339. 

Zinc, 275. 

Zinzendorf, Count, 46, 71, 339. 



V 



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